Peat

[Guppo]

Hi,
Would like to ask what type/brand of peat do you all experts normally use for peat spawners? I'll like to check where can the particular bran can be bought.
I heard of coco peat but I simply can't find a place selling it. Normally, the peat had a mixture of gardening soil.
Do you think it'll have adverse effect to the water parameter etc.?
Looking forward to al your kind advise.
Thank you.

Rgds,
Jerry

[whuntley]

We use sphagnum moss that has undergone the anaerobic process that converts it to peat. That is a temperate or near arctic process, so any you get will be shipped in, I think. Ours usually comes from Canada.

In the US, there is a brand of peat pellet called "Jiffy" used for starting young plants. It is fine and soft and has no sticks or stones mixed in. It has a fine plastic mesh cover that can be easily removed, first. One pellet in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup of water is easy to boil in the microwave. That makes it sink, and the cold-water rinse will get rid of any lime they added and even fertilizer, if it is in there. [Usually they are just plain old sphagnum peat or with lime to keep pH up.]

Larger bales of Canada sphagnum peat moss can be bought and still need to be boiled to drive out air and be allowed to sink. Those usually have more sticks and hard debris. Boiling a whole spaghetti pot of it really can stink up the house! Do outside if you can.

I personally dislike coir or any of the products that use it. Most of it is actually not coir (outer fiber of the coconut husk), but the hard shells of coconuts ground to a coffee-like consistency. The grains are hard and sharp, and I suspect they damage eggs when you try to squeeze dry. Chemically, I suspect the anaerobic decay process was skipped, so the chemistry of the tank water is at the mercy of the processor.

Real peat is like zeolite, and will soften water, if used in a filter without boiling and rinsing. Caution, the sodium released can become deadly if the water gets so soft the other electrolytes get out of balance. [Boiling and a good rinse in harder water will stop that from happening, of course.]

The humins in peat will tint the water, and they seem to be powerfully antibacterial. That's why the storage of eggs in peat is so effective. The same thing does not work nearly as well for me with so-called "coir" so I quit using it some years ago.

YMMV, as some folks do swear by the use of coir.

The "Jiffy" pellets are in many US seed catalogs, if you can find one of those. I haven't checked the web as my local K-Mart always has them.

Wright

[PohSan]

Hi Jerry,
If you lives in Singapore, the choice is quite limited (please correct me if I am wrong). Horti Moss is easily available in most of the NTUC supermart. You will need to boil the moss before use. Another kind is called a coco peat which I can only find it in one of the nurseries in Kovan City. It comes in brick form and you will have to soak it in boiling water and remove all the floating fiber.

One disadvantages of using coco peat is that you must always soak the peat in water before use. If you use dry peat, chances are it will not sink together with the breeding bowl and cause a mess.

Regards,
Ong Poh San

[RonWill]

I'm glad you decided to sign off this time, Jerry. (Thank you and yes, I notice these things).

Unprocess sphagnum are used for dressing up planter/floral baskets but decomposed sphagnum is what you'll find in Horti Peat Moss that's available in most nurseries, as are the Jiffy pellets that Wright mentioned.

Cocopeat or coir is mixed into soil to improve water drainage and possibly minimize compacted soil. It is also used as worm beddings in vermicultures but usually available in 10kg bales. Some nurseries repack and sells these in smaller 'no-brand' bags.

I would consider it a requisite to either boil or microwave the peat (or coir) prior to 1st use. Both coir and peat will release tannins, with the later acidifying the water.

Wright, I'm not sure but perhaps there may be different grades of coir? The ones I used, from a 10kg bale, consist mainly of very fine soft shreds mixed with stiffer outer husks, rarely grounded shells. It is however, very dusty and those with respiratory problems should avoid it.

Compressed brick coir blocks, broken up and microwaved, will sink better but has more of the grounded shells.

[whuntley]

Ron Compressed brick coir blocks, broken up and microwaved, will sink better but has more of the grounded shells.

That's the only kind we usually see. The bales you have sound more like the German fibrous peat which is a wonderful spawning medium, but nearly impossible to get here on the Left Coast.

Wright

[stormhawk]

Wright, does this German fibrous peat look like it has some bits of shredded wood? I had some eggs come on some kind of fibrous wood pieces from a friend in Denmark. Wonder if that's the peat you're talking about.

[whuntley]

Wright, does this German fibrous peat look like it has some bits of shredded wood? I had some eggs come on some kind of fibrous wood pieces from a friend in Denmark. Wonder if that's the peat you're talking about.

Yes, probably. We have a shredded redwood, here, that is similar and it works quite well. In the landscape trade they call it "monkey fur" and one brand is, I think, "Gorilla Fur."

If I remeber correctly, the German stuff actually comes from somewhere up near or in Denmark, and is collected by hobbyists as waste from the production of agricultural peat. We try to get them to use it as light-weight filler in any fish boxes they send.

It is fabulous for permanent breeding setups, like for ANN.

Wright

[RonWill]

The bales you have sound more like the German fibrous peat which is a wonderful spawning medium...

Wright, I doubt if it's what you're saying. This bale stuff is, as far as I can tell, just finely shredded raw husks and nothing else.

It's still bl**dy murder to sink the stuff but a neat trick that worked well for me was to stuff the raw coir into a stocking pouch and zap that in the microwave on HIGH setting for 10 minutes. Beats boiling hands down and the stocking keeps everything in except for the really fine bits.

For the 'furry stuff', I'll get my Mrs to look into it. She can be pretty resourceful at times and just brought back some moss (European origin, I think) and will upload some pics later.

It is fabulous for permanent breeding setups, like for ANN.

...and just how do you use this monkey suit

[whuntley]

The bales you have sound more like the German fibrous peat which is a wonderful spawning medium...

Wright, I doubt if it's what you're saying. This bale stuff is, as far as I can tell, just finely shredded raw husks and nothing else.

Well the German stuff looks like a fuzzy wad of dried weeds.

For the 'furry stuff', I'll get my Mrs to look into it. She can be pretty resourceful at times and just brought back some moss (European origin, I think) and will upload some pics later.

AFAIK, it is collected by and only available through the German killinuts. It isn't a commercial product.

It is fabulous for permanent breeding setups, like for ANN.

..and just how do you use this monkey suit

I use it as a substrate with wads of Java Moss and floating Water Sprite. I have had good results with Chromaphyos with our redwood version, too.

It is too coarse and ragged to make picking eggs very practical, so best used in "permanent" breeding setups, I suspect.

Wright