Hello Pondguru I know I have contacted you in the past. I have purchased the peat balls to see if they would help. Do they have a drastic change in the levels or is it gradual?......How long would it be before I would see any results. Also knowing your wisdom or other things fish could you advise. I have recently bought a new airstone, along with live plants. In your experience, does an airstone rasie the ph levels?
Gravel would reduce or nullify the peat balls effect (or effect of any other treatment) but moving the livebearers out before reducing the pH is a good idea. Aquarium sand (not coral sand for hard water species), bogwood and plants is the way to go for an amazon tank. Corydoras can only feed well in sand too.
ive got gravel thats about 2 to 3mm (quite small bits) and have apistos, a leopard frog plec, a super red and a peppermint pleco all in the same tank as well as some guppies/endlers, would my apistos benefit from these, or is there no point due to the gravel and othe fish/plecs?
Apistogramma species and other amazonian fish would no doubt benefit from reduced pH and softer water but gravel would mess with the effectiveness of peat balls or any other pH down treatment causing it to yoyo - no good. Guppies and endlers need higher pH. lowering it would affect them. Its always best not to mix low and higher pH species as there will always be fish which are unhappy.
Different tanks for fish which have different pH needs for best breeding results and colours.
How long will the gravel and rocks harden the water? For as long as you keep it in the aquarium? Or just until they leach out all their chemicals? I have sand and some lighter coloured, natural gravel. I was planning to remove all the sand and gravel and replace them both with some black gravel that I already bought. Is this not a good idea?
If you are going for a tropical set-up you are best going with sand as loaches and corydoras find it very difficult to feed in gravel. Also, gravel holds alot of waste.
Gravels and rocks will buffer the pH up for as long as you have the tank. If you don't want the tank to have a pH above 7 i.e.if you are going for livebearers, then rocks and gravel is OK. For south american fish, loaches, danios, rasboras,killifish etc. the water really wants to be pH<7.
Do these peat balls and other peat extract products soften the water as well lower the ph? My tap water is hard and I don't have access to rainwater or RO water. I mostly have soft, fresh water fish and although they seem happy enough, I want to make their home even sweeter for them.
Provided you have sand (not gravel or 'hard' rocks which will buffer the pH up) peatballs are very good at setting the pH around 6.5 and softening the water, often with no squeezing. Thats better than prepared extracts as since the peat balls stay in the tank, the pH stays steady and doesn't drop and rise link it generally does with the chemical treatment route.
hay richard im looking to get cardinals which need a low ph do u sell these on your site and also wont the sudden ph change effect my fish coz at the moment my ph is like 7.5
If they are dropped in and not squeezed, they will reduce the pH over a few days, maybe a week and should keep it at around 6.5. Gravel and certain rocks will raise the pH and prevent any treatment, natural or otherwise, maintaining a low stable pH. We sell cardinals (large) and a new XXL size (awesome). There are links to videos of both sizes on the price list which you can download from our website (link on channel).
For all stock checking and ordering, please phone the shop on 01661844005.
There are many products which will drop the pH but the peatballs seem to keep the conditions just right (at pH 6.5) which is great for discus, angelfish, cotydoras, tetras, killifish etc. Bogwood tends to release the tannins all in one go whereas the peat balls drop the ph and keep it there until the next partial water change which normally raises pH again. Every time new water is added, the ball is squeezed to add a bit more goodness to the water, replacing wha has been lost to the water change
Usually after a partial water change you would squeeze the ball a couple of times to release more goodness. We usually don't bother squeezing them in the shop as they seem to keep the water sweet without squeezing. It sits at around pH 6.5.
Provided you have sand and not gravel in your tank and there are no other rocks working to raise the pH, one ball should do the job. They do in our tanks.
If you've got a tank with gravel and rocks which raise the pH or do daily water changes with high pH water no amount of treatment, natural or otherwise, will do any sort of a job to reduce pH.
these things are GREAT - i bought some off their ebay shop and they work PERFECTLY - dont waste extreme money on ph/kh lowering chemicals becuase they DONT WORK!!!!
Thanks for that glowing report, man. Glad you're pleased.
Unless you have a tank with hard rock or gravel which will keep the pH high, peat balls do indeed do a great job of setting the pH for South American fish.
When you take into account how long amond leaves last, they aren't too cheap compared to the peat balls as they tend to release all their goodness very qiuckly. We use amond leaves in our shop. If we get a batch of labyrinths in from Singapore we always add an almond leaf in the tank a day or so before they arrive as it helps to treat any fungal problems they may otherwise develop due to their travelling ordeals. For longer term water quality alteration we use peat balls or alder cones.
Hello Pondguru I know I have contacted you in the past. I have purchased the peat balls to see if they would help. Do they have a drastic change in the levels or is it gradual?......How long would it be before I would see any results. Also knowing your wisdom or other things fish could you advise. I have recently bought a new airstone, along with live plants. In your experience, does an airstone rasie the ph levels?
Thanks in advance
TheTraceyb15 5 hours ago
so if I move guppies and endlers to my other tank i'd be ok?
okedoke27 1 month ago
Gravel would reduce or nullify the peat balls effect (or effect of any other treatment) but moving the livebearers out before reducing the pH is a good idea. Aquarium sand (not coral sand for hard water species), bogwood and plants is the way to go for an amazon tank. Corydoras can only feed well in sand too.
pondguru 1 month ago
ive got gravel thats about 2 to 3mm (quite small bits) and have apistos, a leopard frog plec, a super red and a peppermint pleco all in the same tank as well as some guppies/endlers, would my apistos benefit from these, or is there no point due to the gravel and othe fish/plecs?
okedoke27 1 month ago
Apistogramma species and other amazonian fish would no doubt benefit from reduced pH and softer water but gravel would mess with the effectiveness of peat balls or any other pH down treatment causing it to yoyo - no good. Guppies and endlers need higher pH. lowering it would affect them. Its always best not to mix low and higher pH species as there will always be fish which are unhappy.
Different tanks for fish which have different pH needs for best breeding results and colours.
pondguru 1 month ago
How long will the gravel and rocks harden the water? For as long as you keep it in the aquarium? Or just until they leach out all their chemicals? I have sand and some lighter coloured, natural gravel. I was planning to remove all the sand and gravel and replace them both with some black gravel that I already bought. Is this not a good idea?
TheFirstFool 1 month ago
If you are going for a tropical set-up you are best going with sand as loaches and corydoras find it very difficult to feed in gravel. Also, gravel holds alot of waste.
Gravels and rocks will buffer the pH up for as long as you have the tank. If you don't want the tank to have a pH above 7 i.e.if you are going for livebearers, then rocks and gravel is OK. For south american fish, loaches, danios, rasboras,killifish etc. the water really wants to be pH<7.
pondguru 1 month ago
Do these peat balls and other peat extract products soften the water as well lower the ph? My tap water is hard and I don't have access to rainwater or RO water. I mostly have soft, fresh water fish and although they seem happy enough, I want to make their home even sweeter for them.
TheFirstFool 1 month ago
Provided you have sand (not gravel or 'hard' rocks which will buffer the pH up) peatballs are very good at setting the pH around 6.5 and softening the water, often with no squeezing. Thats better than prepared extracts as since the peat balls stay in the tank, the pH stays steady and doesn't drop and rise link it generally does with the chemical treatment route.
pondguru 1 month ago
hay richard im looking to get cardinals which need a low ph do u sell these on your site and also wont the sudden ph change effect my fish coz at the moment my ph is like 7.5
AwesomeAssassin1000 2 months ago
If they are dropped in and not squeezed, they will reduce the pH over a few days, maybe a week and should keep it at around 6.5. Gravel and certain rocks will raise the pH and prevent any treatment, natural or otherwise, maintaining a low stable pH. We sell cardinals (large) and a new XXL size (awesome). There are links to videos of both sizes on the price list which you can download from our website (link on channel).
For all stock checking and ordering, please phone the shop on 01661844005.
pondguru 2 months ago
so this is the healthiest way to lower ph??? want to buy discus but don't have a water softner in my house
WolleytheMonster 2 months ago
There are many products which will drop the pH but the peatballs seem to keep the conditions just right (at pH 6.5) which is great for discus, angelfish, cotydoras, tetras, killifish etc. Bogwood tends to release the tannins all in one go whereas the peat balls drop the ph and keep it there until the next partial water change which normally raises pH again. Every time new water is added, the ball is squeezed to add a bit more goodness to the water, replacing wha has been lost to the water change
pondguru 2 months ago
@pondguru cool man thanks
WolleytheMonster 2 months ago
When your doing a water change, with tap water, how do you add the water so it matches the aquarium water? Do you just squeeze it?
triggerace7 2 months ago
Usually after a partial water change you would squeeze the ball a couple of times to release more goodness. We usually don't bother squeezing them in the shop as they seem to keep the water sweet without squeezing. It sits at around pH 6.5.
pondguru 2 months ago
For a 70Litre how many peat balls would you need? would 1 suffice?
skyrock100 3 months ago
Provided you have sand and not gravel in your tank and there are no other rocks working to raise the pH, one ball should do the job. They do in our tanks.
If you've got a tank with gravel and rocks which raise the pH or do daily water changes with high pH water no amount of treatment, natural or otherwise, will do any sort of a job to reduce pH.
pondguru 3 months ago
@pondguru Thanks mate. Yeah, I've got sand and a piece of bogwood.
skyrock100 3 months ago
Should do some good then, no worries.
pondguru 3 months ago
these things are GREAT - i bought some off their ebay shop and they work PERFECTLY - dont waste extreme money on ph/kh lowering chemicals becuase they DONT WORK!!!!
gbt722 4 months ago
Thanks for that glowing report, man. Glad you're pleased.
Unless you have a tank with hard rock or gravel which will keep the pH high, peat balls do indeed do a great job of setting the pH for South American fish.
pondguru 4 months ago
Could you just leave one in your filter?
OnlineFishTank 9 months ago
No worries, but the action of the water flow may release the goodness from the peat too quickly if it goes in a filter and reduce pH too much.
pondguru 8 months ago
almond leaf does the same! cheaper and last longer
asiandude666 9 months ago
@asiandude666 almond leaves are good but i don't think they last nearly as long. mine get eaten by shrimp within a few weeks
ievolvedfrommonkeys 9 months ago
When you take into account how long amond leaves last, they aren't too cheap compared to the peat balls as they tend to release all their goodness very qiuckly. We use amond leaves in our shop. If we get a batch of labyrinths in from Singapore we always add an almond leaf in the tank a day or so before they arrive as it helps to treat any fungal problems they may otherwise develop due to their travelling ordeals. For longer term water quality alteration we use peat balls or alder cones.
pondguru 9 months ago
good vid
TheRossiboy 9 months ago
Sounds like a good solution
howarth004 9 months ago