Tannins?

[Tonyb13]

I have been keeping discus for a couple of years now at least. I have a 150 gallon tank with 2 x fx6's. And 14 adult discus. I was having issues with fraying fins and I lost two of my discus
I tried all the meds nothing seemed to help. I segregated the two really sick ones and they died they lost all their color. I am not really sure what my ph is I have bought a couple of electric testers they have not been very reliable. Now to my point I was reading that tannins help lower the ph so I bought a giant piece of driftwood and dropped it in my tank my tank is tea color and I actually love it more importantly my freaking fish seem so much happier. I am afraid that the tannins will eventually run out of this piece of wood I cant afford to change the wood every time so looking for suggestions on how to put tannins in safely and economically.
Thanks Tony

[Second Hand Pat]

Try roobos tea :)
Pat

[LizStreithorst]

That is good as is fluvic acid.

[slicksta]

Organic peat moss makes an excellent tannin brew

[Second Hand Pat]

Organic peat moss makes an excellent tannin brew

But it is so messy to deal with roobos tea is super easy.
Pat

[slicksta]

Not really, just use a short piece of 2-3 inch pvc as a sleeve to feed it into a filter sock or ladies stocking.
And 1/1000 the price of the tea.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Premier-1-cu-ft-Peat-Moss-0262/206020295

[Second Hand Pat]

Not really, just use a short piece of 2-3 inch pvc as a sleeve to feed it into a filter sock or ladies stocking.
And 1/1000 the price of the tea.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Premier-1-cu-ft-Peat-Moss-0262/206020295

Yea, I have bought that and it is so fine. I just personally prefer the tea.
Pat

[slicksta]

Well I guess you need to take into consideration the aquarium size/quantity needed, price of the the tea and how deep your pockets are but I recently picked up a bag 3 times the size as my earlier link for $11.
I also like that I can use the saturated peat in my garden after it's time in the aquarium.
I'm too cheap to go the fancy tea bag route :-P

[Tonyb13]

Stupid question so either product will have same effect right? I mean the benefits not just coloring up my water.thanks all and the peat from home depot is safe no additives or anything in it that would hurt my fish?

[Dee1958]

I have been keeping discus for a couple of years now at least. I have a 150 gallon tank with 2 x fx6's. And 14 adult discus. I was having issues with fraying fins and I lost two of my discus
I tried all the meds nothing seemed to help. I segregated the two really sick ones and they died they lost all their color. I am not really sure what my ph is I have bought a couple of electric testers they have not been very reliable. Now to my point I was reading that tannins help lower the ph so I bought a giant piece of driftwood and dropped it in my tank my tank is tea color and I actually love it more importantly my freaking fish seem so much happier. I am afraid that the tannins will eventually run out of this piece of wood I cant afford to change the wood every time so looking for suggestions on how to put tannins in safely and economically.
Thanks Tony

If you can afford the 150 gal tank ,the filters, heaters,the fish, and the bag of chips ,buy a water test kit. Dee

[slicksta]

Yes Tony the peat is safe.
Make sure it says ORGANIC on the bag.
It will release tannins as the driftwood did and lower your pH as well.
Fluval used to sell peat for their canister filters but I guess it wasn't a big seller with a much lower cost option available.

Actually they do still sell it... But it is pricey as it needs to be replaced often

https://www.chewy.com/fluval-peat-granules-filter-media/dp/124178?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=Fluval&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwuLPnBRDjARIsACDzGL3_kQ0lm2rI-6cz4cmgwe82jCItes8w0vDQ32HQX4TWTsN4PhtAJmIaAvFFEAL w_wcB

[Tonyb13]

Stupid question so either product will have same effect right? I mean the benefits not just coloring up my water.thanks all and the peat from home depot is safe no additives or anything in it that would hurt my fish?

[Tonyb13]

Awsome thanks again to all y all

[slicksta]

I've never used the tea bags but Pat is a reliable sourse.
See above as well

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Tony, I learned about roobos tea from Altum keepers and here a thread talking about it http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?126456-Rooibos-Tea-Good-for-the-Fish-or-Voodoo. It is not as cheap as peat but IMO easier to deal with.
Pat

[slicksta]

@ Pat.
Interesting thread. But from what I gathered the tea doesn't have the same tannin /pH affect as driftwood or peat.

@Tony
You may want to consider a sperate small canister if you don't want to put whatever you choose directly in the tank.
It needs to be replaced/maintained more often than the other media in your fx6's. Plus I wouldn't want to give up valuable media real estate in the fx6 that would better serve you as biological.

[LizStreithorst]

I have used driftwood and peat. I have used the tea. I have used the fluvic acid. All I know is that they all have the same affect on the fish and that's what matters.

[slicksta]

Yes momma, in that respect you are correct... But Tony's initial question brought up two concerns, tannins and cost.
With the amount of water changes we do I think it is hard to beat peat taking both into consideration.
But I'm glad to learn about the tea and fulvic myself as all knowledge is good and I like to have options ;-)

[Second Hand Pat]

@ Pat.
Interesting thread. But from what I gathered the tea doesn't have the same tannin /pH affect as driftwood or peat.


The tea will not affect the ph slicksta but it does strain the water nicely. I prefer to handle ph thru other means.
Pat

[slicksta]

Yes water chemistry is complicated and there is no one solution for all trying to achieve a desired outcome.
Not sure what affect the driftwood had with Tony's fish that he would like to duplicate at a lower cost but now he has 3 things he can start with.
I say our work is done ;-)

[gators111]

Since you are running canister filters, you could use peat put between 2 sponges in the center of one of the trays of the FX6. I did this for years in a Rena XP3 on a 55 gallon and it worked great. It lasted for a couple of months and then you just dump it out and rinse the sponges and put in some more. I would get a big bag of it at Lowes for about 10-12 bucks and it would last for a few years. Just keep an eye on your ph at first to see how much it goes down.

[LizStreithorst]

And if you are one who has to age their water, but some in a media bag in your water storage container as well.