Palmfiber Peat soaked in Chemicult as a substrate.

ok, thanks BigG. Do you think the pfp could work with the Banjos, since I'm gathering you've tried both?

Cluttered thread FTW

 

As I said earlier, the deaper you make the sand over the PFP, the better it will be for the Banjos!

I didn't have the PFP in place when the Banjos resided with me, but I would say that the banjos tended to only be just under the surface of the sand, so I don't think it will be too much a problem. Having said that, eventually I think it will be inevitable that some PFP will get on top of the sand.

It has done this in one of my breeder tanks as the Agassizi Alenque pair I recently inherited decided it would be fun to dig up holes all aroiund the tank! So any PFP that I had nicely layered below is now on top of the sand!! Thankfully, as the Prof pointed out, I do not have a strong flow in the tank, so the PFP is pretty much staying where it was on top of the sand and not being sucked up into the water flow or filter system!!

I have a Horseface Loach in my community (still without PFP) and this is a concern as these dive into the sand whenever scared, and even dart from one place to another under the sand without coming back up to move!! So this would be a concern for when I redo my community!! I am considering just putting teh PFP across the back half of the tank and leaving the front without to reduce 'dig up', but we'll see??

Hope that helps??
CHeers
G!

 

Hi all
Just another question please.
i did my 1.2m tank on saturday with the peat etc..
As prof said i have got some seapage into the water, but mine is quite severe.
My water is an amber colour and has been that way since sunday. - 5 days
Is this still normal, should i just be patient, or should i do something like water changes or filter cleaning?
Please help - thanks

 

Don't panic, mechanic!

If you would read the thread further back, you would see that I have recommended that you do a water change. This discoloration will repeat itself, but it has major advantages for the fishes and also it helps massively against algae, so don't worry at all. The whole of the Amazon's water looks like this in any case.

Kind regards,

Dirk

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

What I did is do a 50% water change just to get the water a bit lighter and ja it seems better

If I my ask JulsM how thick is the layer of gravel on top of the peat the reason for asking is that you should at least have a layer of about 2cm

 

One of my Tanks which has the Apisto Agassizi Red Gold pair and fry in has water so brown you can barely see the fish, but they are thriving in there!!

I have done careful water changes in there (so as not to suck up any fry!), but it seems that the water turns brown faster than I can do water changes!! I'd have to do one every day, maybe even twice daily to get the water visible again!!

So, don't worry about the brown water!! It will eventually clear up with time (and water changes) and as the Prof says its beneficial for the fish!! I believe its antibacterial if I'm not mistaken??

Cheers
G!

 

Is now 1 month from redone my whole set-up with Palm Peat and it's clearing up now.
,i can tel you that since i had this brown water, my cardinals colors intensify, full low body red, their neon body line also improve in color, all my fishes looks more happy,
Just keep up with your 25% weekly water change

Enjoy your hobby
ADW

 

hi
my layer of gravel is 2.5cm thick ontop of the peat.
Sorry if i sound ignorant...
so just to get it straight - the water will almost always be slightly discoloured?
is it just the intensity of the seapage that varies?
i know its beneficial for the fish etc etc, but it does not look that great.
i have lots of little fish, and it makes it a little difficult to see what everyone is up to.

thanks ADW, that makes me feel a little better...

 

As I said, the brown humic acids have major advantages for South American fishes and as Big G has indicated the humic acids are anti-bacterial. The humic acids are also anti-algal so there are lots of advantages. However, you must remember that you need to fertilize your plants as well and in order to do that properly, you must actually do water changes as well (see my fertilizer thread). So, you could combine the water changes with fertilizer additions.

If you have the feeling that you want to remove the brown color but do not feel like water changes, you can filter the water over activated charcoal, it will remove these substances. You must just remember that you must remove the activated charcoal within a week from your filter or the activated charcoal will start releasing the humic acids again after a while.

Then, if you have a lot of money you could also use Purigen, but this stuff is absurdly expensive and for this reason is just simply not justified, in my opinion, then I would prefer the brown color of the water!

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hi prof,

what are your thoughts on capping a substrate like this with Reggies play sand?

 

Sand is too fine, it does not allow any oxygen to get into the medium and that means that the roots of plants cannot grow properly. So as far as I am concerned anything finer that the fine grade of filter sand is not a proposition.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

but the stuff they grow in the wild in is very compact?

 

In spite of the fact that it is relatively compact there is a lot of water movement through the medium through leaching and changing of water levels, in an aquarium you do not have enough movement because the medium has no circulation whatsoever.

 

thanks very much prof. I understand completely. I cant pm yet but maybe you can let me know how i could get the price list and instructions for your ferts. thanks again. Julie

 

So Dirk, are you saying that using river sand is not a good idea to cap the PPF with?
I have cories and want to cap the PPF with something that is fine enough not to damage their 'barbels', and was about to start this weekend with river sand. Is there any 'fine' substrate that you would recommend?

 

Use fine swimming pool filter gravel, I use it for my cories and have no problems with the barbels.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

prof, just for interest sake, do you have any MTS in the pfp tanks you have set up?
Do they still delve into the pfp, and would you concider them beneficial?
One more question vaguely related, as i cant find any info on them, have you ever come across a blue coloured malasian trumpet snail? i was thinking of adding some mts to the tank if they are beneficial, and came acros an lps near me that has what appears to be MTS, but the shells are a bit smooth, and blue coloured instead of the brownish, rough textured shells of the well known MTS

 

In short, I view those snails to be a disaster. They will very definitely not only dig into the pfp but lift it above the gravel in no time. I won't have them near a tank with pfp that is for sure. I have seen your new Malaysian snails in my German aquarium mag, but they are banned here. I also do not view gravel digging snails as at all beneficial or essential.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

thank you for the input prof, much appreciated!
those blue mts aren't new to them, i think the lps has had them for a long time now, they see it as a pest, probably hitchhiked in with an import or something.

At least i now know not to add any of them. Thank you

 

Bit of a stupid question: When I plant the plants, do I plant them all the way down to the PFP, or just into the substrate?
TIA