How do you test your peat water for KH and GH. My test kits (cheap ones)
do
not show a color change because of the tea water. I do believe that the
pH
dropped below 6 from a starting 8.3. Also, do you see any bounce back in
your pH over time due to the KH being at 3?

I use Tetra kits. The water turns blue when the drops are added, changing to
yellow with the drops which are put in. Depending on how many drops it takes
to make the colour change, determines the hardness. If your water is that
tainted you can't see the colour difference, I would maybe suggest leaving a
water sample for a few hours to see if any tannins settle out of the water,
it is no good filtering through carbon because you will get a false result.
I don't have this problem as my water is a very light brown. I have
currently bought the pH of my water down to 5.5 to induce my discus to
spawn. I change 5 gallons per day at a ratio of 4 gallons peat water to 1
gallons tap water. The water conditions seem to stay very stable, although I
wouldn't want to go away for a week and not be able to monitor it.

Regards

Mark