[Chikorita]

Will peat be able to soften up the water for shrimps ??
will it release tannins into the water and give it a golden hint to it ???
is there anything else out there that can be used to soften up the water without having to use RO water ??

Pliz advise

Thanks

 

[GeToChKn]

Will peat be able to soften up the water for shrimps ??
will it release tannins into the water and give it a golden hint to it ???
is there anything else out there that can be used to soften up the water without having to use RO water ??

Pliz advise

Thanks

What type of shrimp are you planning to keep and what is your tap water at now?

 

[mordalphus]

Peat, driftwood, aquasoil, Indian almond leaves

 

[10gallonplanted]

Distilled.

 

[GeToChKn]

Peat, driftwood, aquasoil, Indian almond leaves

Yup, easiest way is activated soils. Peat works good but I prefer the eheim peat pellets as opposed to just loose store peat. Its a solid peat pellet, lasts about 6 months or so in your filter, doesn't loose all kinds of particles, and doesn't tint the water very much at all.

 

[Chikorita]

the water that I am thinking to work on is now at
Ph: 6.5-7
KH - 4
GH - 7.5

I like to lower it down a little in term of the GH
It currently has aquasoil in it but it doesnt help much
There is nothing in that tank yet except plants .. but I like to move some of my other softwater shrimps over to this tank

I might have to buy the eheim peat pellets ...

 

[GeToChKn]

What kind of shrimp? If they're cherries,they'll do fine in it.

 

[Chikorita]

note:

I never use the drop test to check my GH and KH before
BUT I need 6-7 drops for the GH and 6 drops for the KH
so for GH ... multiply by 2 then times 0.056 for the value right ???
and same with KH .. but multiply by 10 instead of 20 ...

is this right ???

 

[Chikorita]

I want to do crystals and/or blue tigers

 

[chad320]

Paying attention to using distilled or RO for top up water is important to keep levels down. Peat and charcoal have always worked good for me.

 

[Chikorita]

what about fluval peat .. are they any good ???

 

[chad320]

what about fluval peat .. are they any good ???

Yes. For a cheaper solution peatmoss in a pantyhose works great.

 

[Chikorita]

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21338

http://www.amazon.com/Fluval-Peat-Granules-Gram-Ounce/dp/B00025642Q

http://www.bigalspets.com/Eheim-Tor...olor_map,price,size_name&searchRank=salesrank

 

[jasonpatterson]

note:

I never use the drop test to check my GH and KH before
BUT I need 6-7 drops for the GH and 6 drops for the KH
so for GH ... multiply by 2 then times 0.056 for the value right ???
and same with KH .. but multiply by 10 instead of 20 ...

is this right ???

The test kit's instructions should tell you. Wonder why they wouldn't just tell you to multiply by 1.12 and 0.56...

 

[Chikorita]

Yes. For a cheaper solution peatmoss in a pantyhose works great.

How do I know how much peat to put in a 75g tank ???
and they only last 6 months so 6 months later, I haved to replace the whole peat thingie ???

 

[Chikorita]

so now .. anytime I change water, I will use RO water .. and this will help greatly reduce the GH and KH then once they r at where they should be then I will mix between ro and regular tap water ???
is this how it should be ?

 

[gordonrichards]

Pretty much.

Some people keep a tub of aged water with driftwood/peat in it for water changes.

If you have space you might want to do that.