Finding Driftwood And Also Peat Moss

[jock2007-]

hey guys and girls

i currently an @ the start of breeding GBR, i have 2 blue rams and 1 golden ram in my tank, @ the present time in not sure of the sex as they are still young, i started with 6 but 3 died within a week although the 3 i have left are now just over a mounth old and looking good , now i have read alot online about the ph these guys like and my tap water i think is too hard ( although i haven't tested this yet but will soon )

i want to lower the ph after i get a reading and i have read the best natural way to do this is buy adding driftwood to the tank. my question is where can i find some good drift wood ? can i find some from a local river or fishing pond ? or do i need to buy some ?

id also like to start filtering water through peat moss as i hear this will also help , what kind can i use ??

if these items have to be paid for online could some 1 please point out where is good to buy them from online in the uk please?

im not interested in a RO unit as they are too expensive

thanks for any help

stewart

 

[Joller]

adjusting pH can be a tricky business, hopefully someone can give you some good advice on that

as for driftwood
most people recommend buying driftwood because its been through some sort of treatment (usually aging and cleaning)
this means that you can take it home and pop it in your tank.

you will get lots of opinions on collecting wood, some will say never do it, others will say its ok
i think its ok, you just need to be careful in where you find your wood because it could be contaminated or have diseases (especially if sourced from a river/pond)
preparing pieces that you've found can take alot of time and effort

 

[snowflake311]

What is your ph? Unless they are wild caught the ph should not be a problem. Even if wild caught fish from the amazon can adjust to a higher ph.

Clean water is key always. Also stress kills. Maybe the reason you lost fish was due to them being weak fro. Poor care at the lfs and then bullied. It happens with cichlids.

Lowing the ph is easy keeping it a constant ph is hard. You can use peat moss in your filter but it needs to be switched out every 3 weeks. It also turns your was the color of tea. Your tap water when you do wc will still be a bit higher. Also peat only brings the water ph down .5 maybe 1. So if your ph is 8 it will be 7.5. That's not enough to make a big differance. It all depends on the buffer less buffer in the water the lower the ph will drop and it could drop too low. It's so confusing I am not going to go in to it.

Basicaly playing with the ph is a pain in the butt unless you have a RO system. Then then it's a little tricky but constant.

If the ones you have now look good and are fine don't mess with it. The other fish might have not made it for many reasons. It would be best to get a water test kit. You need to check ammonia nitrates and nitrites. That's what kills not the ph.

FYI drift wood will do nothing for your ph. It bog wood that can help with lower ph and that is because realy bog wood has been soaked in peat bogs so it's is a lot like peat Moss in how it will lower the ph. Normal wood will do nothing.