use peat to reduce pH?

"Shawn" <huangt.DeleteThis@mse.eng.ohio-state.edu> wrote in message
news:bi0koj$imj$1@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu...
> Does anyone use peat to reduce pH?
> I have a pair (I wish they are not two females) of blue rams and I
tested
> the water pH is more than 7. How do you reduce pH? Has anyone ever
used peat
> to reduce pH? Where can I get the right peat to use? I hope I can
reduce to
> pH 6.5 for me rams.
> Thanks.
>
>

pH is just one parameter that needs attention for breeding these fish.
They need soft acidic water. Not sure where you got 6.5 as
ideal.....but in the wild values much lower are generally the case with
hardness being nearly zero.

Peat has been a popular method of acidifying and softening water for
many years. Most Home Centers sell large bales of peat. The most
common here in the states is from Canada. You want to choose a brand
that has no additives....

The most effectively way to treat your change water is by using a bucket
filled with peat....The bucket should have a hole in the bottom for
treated water to exit. A bit of some filter media should cover the
hole. Pour your source water into the bucket letting the treated water
to drip out the bottom into another bucket or reservoir. Warm or hot
water is best used. Monitor the water quality to tell you when the peat
is exhausted and needs to be changed. Some call this method a Peat
bomb. There are other methods as well. Like adding a large bag of peat
(bag can be panty hose or a special media bag) to a 5 gallon bucket and
filling with water. An airstone is added to agitate the mixture for a
few days... The amount of peat needed is around 1 gallon.

Adding a little peat to a filter does very little to reduce hardness and
pH, although many recommend this method.

Do to www.google.com and search a bit on the subject. There is also
information on www.simplydiscus.com and a variety of other forums and
archives.
 >> Stay informed about: use peat to reduce pH? 

"Shawn" <huangt RemoveThis @mse.eng.ohio-state.edu> wrote in message
news:bi0koj$imj$1@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu...
> Does anyone use peat to reduce pH?
> I have a pair (I wish they are not two females) of blue rams and I tested
> the water pH is more than 7. How do you reduce pH? Has anyone ever used
peat
> to reduce pH? Where can I get the right peat to use? I hope I can reduce
to
> pH 6.5 for me rams.
> Thanks.

You need to understand what's going on when you use peat. Ph is reduced but
this is actually as a by-product of reducing the Kh (carbonate hardness). At
any given level of CO2 in the water (usually 2-3ppm in normal conditions) Ph
will fall as Kh falls (and vice versa). Therefore in order to get to a given
level of Ph you need to look at the relevant tables (do a search of Google)
and reduce the Kh of your water appropriately. At Ph 7 and assuming normal
levels of CO2 you have a Kh of around 15-20ppm (a Kh of around 1dKh). Be
aware that as Kh falls to zero then Ph can/will crash very fast resulting in
very dead fish. If you tried to get your Ph down to 6.5 using Peat you will
have to bring your Kh down to very close to zero at which point you will
start to introduce instability into the tank.

The only way to do what you want without lowering the Kh even more would be
to inject CO2. Doing this you can reduce the Ph without moving the Kh.

One of the other key reasons for measuring Kh when using peat filtering is
that when passed through the peat the water seems to absorb massive amounts
of CO2. You will therefore see previous posts of people saying that the
water coming out their peat filters has a Ph of 5 or 5.5. This is only
temproary and is caused by the high CO2 levels. Leave things alone for a bit
and the water that came out at Ph 5 will soon climb back up and settle at a
higher level as the CO2 comes out of the water and settles at atmospheric
levels of 2-3ppm.


HTH

I.
 >> Stay informed about: use peat to reduce pH?