peatmoss in canister filters

[jim from sydney]

to reduce pH levels has any-one tried this in an external canister filter???this is from the net......
"there are many methods of lowering your pH, most with some form of phosphoric acid, from drops to powders, but one of the gentlest and safest methods is through the use of peat moss. Because the peat adsorbs carbonates and acidifies the water, you should be able to maintain desirable pH and carbonate levels through the use of peat alone"
Any comments please.....Jim

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Jim, me again lol.

If your water is very hard peat will be of little use but if it is not then it will lower your Ph and your hardness and safely. Just make sure it doesnt lower your Kh that much that it gives you Ph issues, again, practise makes perfect.
MAC

[Ben]

Hi Jim,
About 5 months ago i bought some aquarium peat and put some in 2 of my canister filters. As Mac mentioned it is no good if the water has a high KH/GH and if it is low you can get a PH crash.

To be totally honest other than a slighty higher PH reading there is no difference with the tanks with peat in the filters and tanks with sponge filters only.

The water in my area has gone up a few units of PH in the last 2 months. I have just tried some sodium biphosphate, so far it has worked quite well with no side affects on the fish. I used 1 slightly heaped tablespoon in a 220 litre water aging barrell and that bought the PH down by .4 units.

HTH

Ben

[jim from sydney]

thanks guys.....i am looking at various possibilities for a consistant manner of lowering pH.....looks to me that the easiest and safest way is to keep using pH down......i can get it through one of our sponsers for 40 bucks for 2 kg. it is the best i can find.....has any-one found a better price???????Jim