making peat extract

[aspen]

anybody done this? how? i don't want a bunch of floating stuff in the tank. just the peat extract.

rick

[Cichlids1]

Don't know what you mean by peat extract, but I keep a 50g rubbermaid container with about 6 inches of peat on the bottom. I fill it up and let is set for a few days. They water comes out the color of weak coffee. I also keep an airstone going in to. Then, I use a small pitcher to scoop water out when I need it. If you go slow and easy, it doesn't stir up the peat. If I do get it all stirred up, I just pour it through a fine mesh net. As the water level gets lower, I just refill it when I have the Python out.

[farm41]

I have heard of boiling it and then squeeze it out, never done it myself.

[aspen]

according to who you are reading, boiling peat can be done to benefit, or it can destroy the peat. i tried it last night, and i got the tea and dumped it in. the water has changed a bt in colour, but the hardness and the ph hasn't moved. maybe i didn't use enough or boil long enough.

i have a 20 gal which i have just set up, with a 15 gal under it for water storage and treatment. the tank has some pencilfish, some glowlights and a pair of rams. i think i will just dump a bunch of peat into the 15 gal with some air, and syphon, then strain the water and see how that goes. btw for a 'final clean' of the peated water, i poured the water through a coffee filter in a melita coffee maker and the water was very clean.

rick

[Cichlids1]

For me, the peat water method worked just as slow as actual peat in the tank. I have found that by letting it set a couple weeks in the rubbermaid the water properties do drop some.

[Eva32181]

What about the "filtering through peat" method? Here is a link to show you how to do it: http://www.marksfish.f9.co.uk - click on "d.i.y." and then on "peat filtering."

Basically what it involves is running your water through a bucket filled with peat into a larger storage container (like a rubbermade trash can), then pumping that water into your tank(s). I plan on trying this myself, as soon as the shipment from Big Al's arrives with my new water pump.

In my big display tank I put peat under the gravel - of course I move my plants around a lot so now I have lots of peat above gravel, too, but I find that it doesn't muck up the water at all. And my dwarfs love playing in it.