Peat moss or Indian almond leaves

Hey does anyone know where i can find indian almond leaves or peat moss? I live in Bloemfontein and i can't find any

 

I know Shrimp City in Johannesburg sells almond leaves. www.shrimpcity.co.za

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While not having the supposed 'magical' properties of katappa, the good old magnolia leaf is very similar in size and hardness, and in my view does the same thing. You can also use oak leaves. Obviously, everything you use must be well washed to remove soot and dust.

 

What do you want it for? If it is just to stain the water and for health of fish rooibos tea also works and is readily available. Just dont add milk or sugar

 

@TheGrissom I want it to lower my ph naturally

 

The carnivorous plants section at a nursery should have sphagnum peat moss. Other question is: Why do you want to lower your pH?

 

What is your pH without any adjustments? Unless you are keeping a specifically difficult species anywhere above 6 but below 7 should be fine

 

Guys, a word of GREAT CAUTION !!!!! The peat moss that is always referred to in books or other websites, is NOT the local peat moss you buy in bags in nurseries. It is a very specific product that is not cheap. The best peat in the world, is Irish peat, and there are some nurseries that do stock it ( usually like 5kg bags) The local peat is absolute rubbish and full of sh1t and also contains harmful chemicals from pollution. Irish peat is totally inert with a very low Ph. !!!

 

It is debatable whether you really need peat moss. Any hard plant material will produce humic and tannic acids as it decays. The advantage of peat is that it no longer contains any proteins and simple sugars that can nutrify the water. What I suggest is to take magnolia leaves that have fallen naturally (i.e. don't pick them green and dry them), and let them stand in clean water for a few weeks. Change the water intermittently. When the water starts to clear up, take the leaves out, wash them thoroughly, and introduce them to the tank you want to acidify.

A thing to remember is that the effect on the pH is greatly dependent on the degree of hardness of the water. If the water is very soft, the effect will be large, and pH of as low as 4 can be reached. This is problematic for many aquatic animals. If there is a bit of hardness in the water, it will buffer against organic acids, so the effect will be much smaller.

 

Driftwood also does the job.

 

Stable pH is more important than any specific pH. Last thing you want is pH swings

 

@RuanJ is there a reason you need to drop it?

 

My ph hovers at about 8 and i wanted to get some rcs but i am not going to bother anymore. Now i am just going to focuse on adding more plants in my angel fish tank

 

Call me crazy, but I would say a pH of 8 is actually ideal. Fish don't 'feel' the pH
What does matter is the amount of minerals in the water which affects osmoregulation. Soft water vs Hard water is what matters for the fish.

Ideally you would like to keep your pH above 6.5 otherwise you won't have lots of filter bacteria growing.

Does RCS stand for Red Cherry Shrimp? If so then they should do fine.

 

Thanks for all tje advice but i am going to leave my ph alone i am now just on a mission to find some nice plants that won't set me back millions of rands

 

The ones I sent up are already acclimatised to bloem tap water so no need to worry about that. They had the first batch of babies over the weekend. With 6 of them you'll get a colony going in a few months. They reproduce like flies haha.

 

@lithosza yes red cherries. Yeah they don't care much, as long as there is no nitrites they become more not less, and quickly.

 

@BoelderBeestie where can i buy the rcs?