What is peat?

[cminghan]

What is peat? what is the command name in the market of singapore and malayisa? are they available in landscape nursery? what is the command name over there then?what peat is the best for notho?

[TyroneGenade]

Canadian peat is the best by far.

[stormhawk]

Peat is simply rotting decomposed sphagnum or bog mosses. The common trade name in Singapore is Peat Moss. Sold in gardening stores.

In Malaysia if you go by Malay names, then it would be called Tanah Paya I think.

For Nothos, a soft fine peat would be good although any type of peat will do.

Again, please sign off with your real name. Thanks.

[hwchoy]

does anyone knows if cocopeat works for killi breeding?

[RonWill]

Choy,
I use cocopeat, also known as 'coir', mixed into gardening soil for drainage, as a worm-bed in my vermiculture as well as inside killie breeding bowls.

Available from plant nurseries either in loose form or in compressed blocks.

[hwchoy]

so it can replace peat moss?

[whuntley]

Yes.

Many breeders like it very much, and do very well using it.

Personally, I have always hated it and gave up on it years ago. I like nice soft Jiffy Peat Pellets, usually available from major seed catalogs.

The so-called "coir" we get in compressed bricks is actually not just the fiber outside of the coconut as much as it has ground shell that is, IMHO, too abrasive on eggs.

One should also notice the difference in material. Peat has undergone long (often centuries) of wet bog anaerobic decay, and is half way to being coal. It will decay no further in your tank.

Coir and the redwood fiber the landscapers call "Monkey Fur" are good peat substitutes but are not as safe long haul as they can do some gradual decaying in the tank. I'm not sure that coir has anything like the antibacterial properties of sphagnum peat.

Wright

[stormhawk]

I've used cocopeat to good effect though I must say it doesn't have the same anti-bacterial properties of normal sphagnum peat.

The ones that we have here are mixed in with some some fibres and occasionally a grain of sand here and there. Its quite good actually and drain quickly for quick packing of the collected peat in a container or bag.

[cminghan]

is those peat ,is sale like those black soil for gardenning?
i found some peat moss in the market,but they are really some kind of dry huge moss,which is light brown in color...is that the one?

--------------------
Ming Han

[stormhawk]

It's dark brown, not black. The black soil is actually burnt earth.

The light brown stuff is probably just dried sphagnum moss. I have some of those too.

[whuntley]

Possibly.

Canada sphagnum peat moss is very light brown when quite dry. In that form it is water repellant, and sinks only very slowly in water. Most of us zap a small amount at a time in a couple of cups of water in the microwave. That expands the air in the fibers and allows water to be sucked in to replace it as it cools. Then it sinks immediately.

[Boiled in a big spaghetti pot, it stinks up the whole house!]

A quick rinse under the cold faucet, and it is ready to use.

Peat from big bales may not have the added lime that peat pellets usually have, so the pH may be pretty low unless you boil it a while and do a really good rinsing in alkaline tap water.

Wright

[shortman]

I use peat pellets too it is very useful. I just use the "lazy man" method to collect egg. Egg is collect after filtering and the peat that go thru the filter is then dry up and pack ready to ship.


regds

[TyroneGenade]

I used to use the palm peat and it worked well for a time but it gets VERY acidic and doesn't work for long-term storage as it dries out too fast. It also decays in the tank and bag with the eggs causing trouble... I switched to Canadian peat which is much much better! It is very acidic though and needs to be boiled several times with some alkali like baking soda or lime.

I just use the "lazy man" method to collect egg.

Unless you explain this "lazy man" method I am going to come over to Singepore and extract the information after several long hours of torture involving the repetative playback of that horrible track "Oops I did it again" by Britney Spears. You are warned...