The usage, purpose and know-how about using peat in a fish tank

The purpose

Peat can lower pH and water hardness levels while tinting the water brown. Additionally, it can release hormones, CO₂, and potentially nitrates into the aquarium. Moreover, it can neutralize certain toxic metals. What prompts these alterations? Acids possess remarkable properties. Are these properties truly remarkable? Let's explore the pros and cons...

Advantages:

• Brings down pH and hardness.
• Doesn't change the conductivity.
• Releases lots of useful materials that are welcome by fish.

Disadvantages:

• The water must be tested frequently.
• It is not suitable for fish that need hard water with a high level of pH.
• If you have a Dutch (planted) aquarium, some plants don't like water with very low pH levels.
• It's difficult to select the right amount of peat to use in your aquarium.

If you've decided to use the peat read the rest of this article, please.

What peat to use and where to buy it?

Attention! Warning! Avoid using garden peat at all costs. These products may contain chemicals unsuitable for aquariums. It is highly advised to only use pure peat without any additives. Based on my experience, the optimal choice is granulated peat manufactured by SERA, JBL, and other reputable firms in this field. By opting for these brands, you can be confident that the peat is specifically designed for aquariums.

How to do it?

Generally, there are two methods of usage.

• The first is more complex but very accurate. Firstly, put the peat into a container with some water. Leave it for a few days while acidic materials are being extracted to the water. Next, measure the pH level of the water. It should vary from 4 to 5. Now, you can tip some of this water into your aquarium. Do it slowly, always tip in parts and measure the changes in the aquarium. This way of doing things is much more precise and safer than the second one, since you can control the water quality.
• The second way is much more easier than the first one, however it is much more dangerous too. Put the peat into some stockings. If you have a small aquarium, immerse the stockings directly into the water. During the initial phase, the peat will float to the top. If you have a large aquarium, you can put the stockings with peat into a filter as a filtration media. Bear in mind that it might cause a serious damage to your tank if you don't control the process frequently!

How much and how often?

There is no exact answer. The main factor is the water that you want to adjust. As it has been mentioned above, from JBL and Sera are recommended and in such a case it can be an amount of 250 grams (8.81 ounces) per 250 litres (~ 66 US gallons, 55 Imperial gallons) of water and a replacement of peat should be done once a month usually when cleaning filtration media and eventually pipes if using external filters. If being used for short periods of time, the peat doesn’t change the colour of water but it lowers the pH by 0.5 if used the way explained already. Leaving the peat in water for long periods doesn't result in any effect; the pH starts go up slowly.

Now you can start to experiment with peat. I wish you good luck and remember, be patient and careful.

This article was originally written by Patrik Ruzic alias Wampa (with his blog at www.aqua-wampa.blogspot.com); patrik.ruzic at gmail dot com and adjusted later by staff of Aqua-Fish.Net.

Online suppliers

Before 2024, we would typically provide a list of different online vendors offering aquarium peat in this space. However, as these links occasionally become inactive, we've opted to suggest shopping search links through the DuckDuckGo search engine. Thank you for your understanding.

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