130 liter for only killifish

[whuntley]

Gilad,

I have kept killifish over many kinds of substrates that were not peat. I usually keep Nothos and Fundulopanchax over peat, but Aphyos and Epiplatys over gravel or bare glass. In the latter case, there must be a dark shelf or paper below the tank as clear glass open to the shelf below makes them very nervous and skittish. They are used to watching for predators from above, and to have to watch below is very unsettling Dark seems more calming than light colors, BTW.

By using peat and acrylic mops, we make places for them to hide the eggs so not all get eaten. Surface fish, like Epis, will lay eggs in the dense hanging roots of plants like Water Sprite (aka Indian Fern?).

The best peat originally comes from sphagnum moss that has been matted down in sub-arctic to arctic bogs for many many years. It is gradually altered so that most volatile substances, like nitrates, and similar nutrients are thoroughly washed out and it becomes chemically inert (more or less). It retains the antibacterial humins and other organic compounds that we find beneficial for resting eggs, and may tend to make a tank gradually more acid, depending on how well buffered your original tap water is. Only if you have very soft water is this ever a problem.

Peat needs to be boiled briefly and rinsed thoroughly. It has a water-softening property that can make it retain ammonia, which is quickly released if just dumped in the tank without a rinse in harder water. Boiling also drives out air in the fibers so it doesn't keep floating for a week or two. .

Rather than move the adults away from the eggs, most of us gather up the peat (with a fish net?) or the mops and store the eggs in their own, smaller container. YMMV.

HTH

Wright

[gilad]

o.k i understand...
but what this sentence:
"Boiling also drives out air in the fibers so it doesn't keep floating for a week or two. ."
after week or two the peat floating???

[whuntley]

Depends on how moist it is stored, but really dried out peat can take an unpleasantly long time to sink. Not to worry, for boiling is needed for other reasons, anyway. Our bales of peat come in thick plastic wraps, which keep it slightly damp, until opened. It then gradually dries and becomes more and more difficult to sink.

I boil one Jiffy pellet at a time in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup (1-1.5 cups of water) in the microwave. I dump the hot wet mass into a fishnet over the sink, and rinse well under cold tap water. Squeeze out most of the water to make it easy to transfer to a breeding bowl or the tank, as a damp lump that sinks easily.

Nearly all agricultural peat has had lime added, to keep the organic acids from burning tender plant roots. It's never on the label, but usually is present. You need to get rid of as much of it as possible, and replace any cation-stored ammonium with the Calcium in the lime and/or in your tap water. The process also rinses out the fine stuff that can clutter up the tank water.

Dumping unrinsed peat into your fish container can release amazing amounts of ammonium, as the Ca/Mg++ replaces the NH4+ at the cation exchange sites. Not a good thing to do, IMHO. It is particularly dangerous if your water is much above pH=7.5 or so.

Wright

PS. I hate and will not use coco-peat (so-called Coir). I think it damages eggs and is the cause of many poor hatches and deformed or belly-sliding babies. Just my prejudice, for others swear by it as the best thing since sliced bread.