pine cones

[VIOLIN33]

has anybody tried useing pine cones to help lower ph? ive heard people useing adler cones for that purpose..

[brewmaster15]

Hi,
I haven't tried that but I'd be worried about the resin being ab irritant/toxin.

I have tried Oak chips, bark and dried leaves and found it to be an excellent water condition for tannins and pH.

hth,
al

[Apistomaster]

Al is correct, you should not use conifer cones as a water treatment.
The Alder cones are potent sources of tannins and even just 6-8 cones will have a very noticeable change in the water color in 20 gallons.
I have not found them to be as good as Oak, Canadian peat moss or the Ketapang leaves as a means of creating home made black water but the Alder cones do have their uses so I would not discourage trying them.
I know some Killiefish breeders who place one Alder Cone in a small egg incubation container as a natural fungus inhibitor and I have used them in my attempts to breed Coral Red Pencil fish and Poecilocharax weitzmani tetras. Both are difficult to breed black water species so my failures in trying to breed them can not be ascribed to my use of Alder Cones. The fish appeared to very comfortable in the Alder Cone produced black water.