[Wet Thumb Forum]-dead leaves in an aquarium

[dwalstad]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by russell:
i ran peat in my fluval for 2 months, and with just a cup of peat, it lowered my 30 gallon tank's ph from 7.1 to 6.4 in 3 days. i was shocked when i checked it. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is good information (I love it when people quantitate their findings!). Thank you.

Peat is like an ion-exchange resin. It exchanges its acid ions (H+) for the calcium (Ca++) and magnesium (Mg++) in the water. Thus, it will both lower the pH and soften the water.

Adding peat to the filter (rather than the substrate) will speed up this ion-exchange process.