UV and peat?

[TimboS]

Hi All,

In another one of my info seeking posts, this time I ask will use of a UV steriliser destroy any of the goodness that comes from use of peat in the filter?

Does Zeolite remove any of the goodness?

As suggested to me by ILLUSN, since my KH is only 2, I might just consider using peat to lower and buffer my pH, but I do want something to get rid of toxins and nasties in the water (Zeolite and UV).

I prefer the look of blackwater, and, use of peat means I will not have to pour in extra chemical like Seachem Acid and Alkaline buffer.

But, I do want this tank to be for breeding at some stage - will pH of 6.9 or thereabouts be low enough ? (If not, then it's time for the bicarbonate buffers I guess...)

Timbo

[ILLUSN]

uv wont effect your black water, nor will it remove any toxins, all it does is kill free swimming bacteria, other sinfled celled organisums and some mutlicellular paracites.

zeolite will remove nh3/nh4 no2 from the water + any charged ions, i wouldn't use it in a planted tank as the filter should remove all the NH3/NH4,NO2 and the plants some of the NO3.

if your tank is not planted zeolite is a nice cheep product that works well.

if you use activated carbon, biochemzorb or similar products they will remove the tannins and humeric acids from the peat in addition to any positivly charged ions.

you can breed at 6.9, dad did it with browns back in the early 80's.

the spawns are better at mid 5's in my experience.

[TimboS]

I must admit, I am deep in thought about what to do with my tank:

it's planted, it's small (124L), it keeps two discus at most, and it's well filtered. But, now I want to start adding fertisiler, drop the pH a little, and use UV treatement.

So, the dilemma are these -

1) what type of chemical filtration to use with fertiliser (given that I am only interested in removing toxins from the water since I do a 25% water change every three days and so organic waste removal in a chemical filter product is not really necessary)

2) how to drop and buffer pH without adding anything to the water that will be removed by my choice of chemical filtration, i.e. peat and carbon

At this time I am looking at pulling out the zeolite and carbon and replacing wholly with more biological media and Seachem renew (mainly for the toxin removal and ion exchange property). Renew will not take out the fertiliser and as a bonus changes colour as it is used up, and, it's cheap !

[ILLUSN]

i'd personally not use any chem media in a planted tank, but again its your call.

your plants might not like the reduced light from the peat tannins or the lower kh and gh as they utilise all that to grow.

[TimboS]

Speaking of chem media, when the product is said to remove "toxins", what exactly is it removing?

My thoughts on chem media at this time is only to remove toxins from the water in the same way that UV steralises the water. But if it's not necessary, that's less fiddling with the filter and I believe in the KISS priciple !

My KH is only 2 so today I am off to buy some Seachem acid and alkaline buffer. My GH is 8 which has me wondering whether to buy Seachem Flourish or just the Flourish Excel.

Also gotta buy some Sterazin today - have been feeding my fish live blackworms and oh yes, at least one of them has started pooing out long fine filaments that almost look like grey hair mixed with the normal black stuff. Just great - I feed my fish a treat and they get worms !!

Argh !!

[ILLUSN]

lol dont stress, these things happen from time to time.

chemical filtration removes toxins such as chlorine, heavy metals and can also detoxify no3 and nh3/nh4.

the problem is some heavy metals (Mn, Mo, Mg, B) are needed by plants and hence why i dont use chem filtration in my planted tanks (I use it on my water aging barrels though to clean up the tap water).

florish is a great product i use both florish and excell in my planted tanks, but its usually cheeper to make your own from dry ferts and just as effective, shoot of a pm to Erk or FishR and they'll be able to help you.

just give your fish a good worming treatment and they'll be fine, if you can shoot of a PM to MalcomC and get some freezedried worms off him, all the nutrition of live worms and no diseases.

[TimboS]

Call me weird, but is chemical filtration then not the same as adding Seachem Prime to the tapwater?

I think I will just buy a small amount of Flourish to try before deciding on long term use, in which case I'll PM the people you mention - so thanks for that.

I only have something like 0.5 or 0.6 wpg so fertiliser may not be necessary - I just want to see if it makes things any better, and if not, hey it's worth trying anyway !

[TimboS]

Another thing I thought of - there would seem to be chemical filtration, like Seachem Renew which is claimed to not take anything out of products like Flourish, and then there's CHEMICAL filtration, like carbon that takes a hell of a lot.

Would something less aggressive like Renew be good for toxin removal if one does not age water in barrels like yourself?

[ILLUSN]

Cant really comment on that to be honest, I've never used renew though a few members here use purigen with fantastic results, though i'm not sure if they use them in planted tanks.

your light is probably holding your plants back so ferts may not be of much use to you, just use them if you see deficiencies in your plants.

[TimboS]

There's only one plant that shows signs of something not quite right. Perhaps I will get stronger lights and see what happens first.

I've got some work to do now -

have to treat with Sterazin (which means no water changes for 10 days from memory - bumma)

have to replace my globes

have to lower pH using Acid and Alkaline buffer

have to add a UV steriliser

(not all at once mind you!)

Busy busy busy...