KH vs Peatmoss - El Natural

kennyman · 03-11-2007, 06:52 AM

I have recently converted my 55gal over from African cichlids to a planted tank. The setup I put together seems to resemble the natural setup outlined by Mrs. Walstad rather closely. I used 1.5" Black Earth amended with sand and toped it off with 1" of crushed red granite amended with Flourite (The granite/flourite came from a club auction, too good to pass over) The lighting is two 40w T12's in a 4' shoplight with little side reflectors suspended 6" over glass canopy. I have a 270gph canister filter dialed down with a flow restriction valve at the spraybar to reduce surface agitation.

Living in the country my source water is from a well driven deep into limestone bedrock. This was great for keeping Mbuna but I don't think it is so great for a planted aquarium. After letting a bucket of water sit overnight my tests came out at 15 dKh and PH of 8.2. The ph is lower right out of the tap but I let it sit because I have heard that excess CO2 will gas off giving a more correct reading?

I am very interested in getting the PH below 7 since I am led to believe that Ammonia converts to Ammonium below a PH of 7 and this is the most preferred source of N for plants? I do not own a RO device and I am not likely to make that investment for the sake of a hobby. Will running Peatmoss in my canister Bring the PH down enough? And does it effect the alkalinity(Kh) of my well water? What effect does Peat actually have on water parameters?

Thank you for any help or advice you have to offer.

Edward · 03-11-2007, 07:59 PM

Yes, filtering water over peat moss will remove KH, GH and lower the pH, but the process is very unpredictable, unstable and labour intensive. Sooner or later you will give up and get an RO unit. They are very cheap and last for years.

kennyman · 03-12-2007, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward

but the process is very unpredictable, unstable and labour intensive.

I guess that would explain why I can not find the specifics on using Peat that I have been looking for. Thanks for the overview

dymndgyrl · 03-12-2007, 02:42 PM

Rainwater here in BC - PH: 6.8 KH: 3 GH: 4.

You should test yours. Should be pretty clean water, living out in the country as you say.
This is from a cistern, but a rainbarrel fed by a gutter would be the same.
You could mix it with your tap water if you wanted higher parameters, just as you would do with RO water.
In keeping with the "Natural" theme, eh? And with a Walstad tank, there are hardly any water changes to worry about, it seems like a waste to install a whole RO unit (unless you need it for drinking water, also)

t2000kw · 03-13-2007, 07:34 AM

For what it's worth, you can get decent RO systems on ebay for less than $140 shipped to your door (in the 48 US states, anyway). If you add a permeate pump to cut down on wastewater and increase efficiency you can still keep it under $200, even if you get a deionizer filter with it.

I use RO mainly for topping up so I'm not adding to the dissolved solids alreasy in the tank left behind from evaporation. But it can be used to help raise some exotic fish species, too, if you have that in mind.