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Sphagnum peat bottom

Phile

Member
Messages
58
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana USA
Very nice Diapterons. I was never able to get that long fibrous peat here in Indiana, but the fine stuff came in bales. Must confess that I don't have any experience with it. How did you harvest eggs out of all of that peat?
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
There are some Sphagnum species that can grow permanently submerged. Not sure if any of those grow in Finland (or if they can survive long-term in warm water) but if you can find some they might be worth trying live. A few years ago I was talking with an American aquarist who uses live Sphagnum in tanks ... i think it was Phil Tongier.
 

MickeM

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
441
Location
STOCKHOLM , SWEDEN
Hi Phile + all..

Well, actually I have only kept the eggs for myself, so I have never sorted eggs out of the peat !!
I got fry from Hypsolebias picturatus + Leptolebias citrinipinnis this way..just drying the peat for some months, then put into water for hatching..
I keep most Rivulus(Laimosemion) +Aphyosemion right now!! I collect some eggs from these from time to time... then from yarn-/cottonmops..
(Laimosemion geayi, strigatus, cladophorus, agilae, xiphidius.. Aphyos. amoenum, exigoideum, cameronense...)

The Diapteron is "long gone" I´m afraid.. very nice+small fishes!!

Here is a film with a tip how to collect eggs from "dusty peat"/"coco-peat".. after 2min 45 seconds...
A friend of mine put his peat from Simps. santanae+ Fundulosoma thierryi in an old dry Newspaper and roll it like in this film!!!

 
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ButtNekkid

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
315
Location
Finland
And here we go! Boiled it about 15 minutes.
Apparently there´s something edible in there because cardinals picked something from the pile?

Would some snails be a good addition to this tank? Would they survive in peat bottom?
 

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Phile

Member
Messages
58
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana USA
You can also do it in a microwave. I put a large amount in a microwave safe bowl with water and nuke it for a couple of minutes. Then I stirred it up and did it again. After it cools you can put it in a large slidder storage bag and use as needed. While nuking and boiling will kill any critters that came with it, it also drives the air out and saturates it so that it sinks.
 

ButtNekkid

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
315
Location
Finland
Thanks for the tip, Phile! I´ll do that the next time if all goes well.
Have you done something like this (peat substrate) or did you make peat extract?
 

Phile

Member
Messages
58
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana USA
I only used it as a spawning substrate when spawning nothobranchius killies. It's placed in a plastic container, like a margarine tub or a deli container, with a one inch hole cut into the lid. The fish go inside to spawn. It keeps the mess in the bedroom, so to speak. When I used peat for water treatment, I put the peat into mesh bags. These bags are small bags with a drawstring. The mesh is like that on a brine shrimp net. You can often find them at online pet supply sites. You can get similar mesh at the hardware store. It is sold in the paint department as paint strainer bags. Its much cheaper for a lot more material. You can cut it to size and make your own treatment bags, or just fill a bag up with peat and drop it into your sump, if you have a system on a sump. Every few weeks. you can just dump the old peat out of the bags, and shovel in some new stuff. You can even make a bunch of them up in advance and use as needed.
 

boofeng

Member
Messages
92
Re: mesh bags, you could also check out the marine section of fish stores - they use very fine sock-shaped filters (my local shops stock 200 microns) to "polish" the water as a final stage - these + a cable tie make pretty good peat bags.
 

Karin

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
153
Location
Buenos Aires
Hi All!
This is my small killi fish tank. There is only a female of Austrolebia nigripinnis (a gift from the guys on the video taking killis from the hole!!). She is in there since 13 months now. The male died several months ago. The bottom is just peat, and plants are just there… No filter, no heater, no pumps. It was not planned, only happened.
 

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ButtNekkid

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
315
Location
Finland
Hi Karin,

That´s beyond awesome! Thanks for posting.
I´m about to add my second batch of peat to my project.
 

ButtNekkid

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
315
Location
Finland
Well... I obviously did not nuke long enough my newest patch!

Nevermind the half naked man in the reflection. It´s so rare to have a proper summer weather in Finland!
 

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