For blackwater rivers rich with tannins and humic acid which make the water
dark and light penetration difficult, that is certainly true. There are,
however, whitewater and clearwater regions as well which can support aquatic
plant life. Clearwater rivers, especially, have a higher mineral content.
I looked on a site I have bookmarked about Amazonian habitats and found
these two pages http://www.amazonian-fish.co.uk/c34.html and
http://www.amazonian-fish.co.uk/c6b1.html which describe aquatic plant life
there. It appears that grasses and floating plants (particularly lily pads)
are the most prevalent). What, no Amazon swords?

Nonetheless, apistos and planted tanks go together. Just look at
www.thekrib.com and you can tell that right away.

Jody

"Rich Conley" wrote in message
...
somebody was telling me that there are almost no plants in the rivers that
most
apistos live in...the thing that bringgs the PH down so much is all the
leaf
litter from the overhanging trees... The trees make these streams too dark
to
support plant life. This info was from his collecting trip.

Jody wrote:

Plenty of those soft-water South American rivers have both apistos AND
plants, so don't worry about it. Most apisto tanks have plants to help
give
the fish a secure feeling. Pure breeder tanks with bare bottoms
obviously
will not. But again, most community-type apisto tanks do have plants.
Conversely, most African Rift Lake tanks, which are hard and alkaline,
have
NO plants. That is mainly because those type of fish like to dig and
dine
on plants. To sum up, I think the type of water you have will dictate
the
type of fish you keep, and the type of fish you keep will dictate
plants. I
say enjoy both!

Jody

"Frank Mamone" wrote in message
...
Yes I was referring to using it in the aquarium filter to soften the
water
for the fish -- apistos, rams and tetras. But, I'm hearing here that
plants
like hard alkaline water! What a dilemma!



"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

"Frank Mamone" wrote in message
.. .
1) Will filtering with peat help the plants?

2) Will the peat affect Co2 calculations using the PH/KH? I know
phosphates
will.

Depends what you mean by peat filtering. I prepare the water for my
tanks
through a peat filtering rig I built - makes me about 50USG at a
time -
I
use ordinary garden peat. What I found wast that after the initial
filtering
there was massive (100-120ppm) amounts of CO2 in the water which
then
disperses over time as you'd expect.

Therefore what I do is measure the KH as its working and when that
comes
down to where I want it (about 5 DKh) then I stop the thing and
then
just
circulate the water till the initial blast of CO2 has worn off..
WHat I
then
find is that the relationship between KH/PH & CO2 levels seems to
work
perfectly well. i.e. the Ph has beeen reduced along side the Kh by a
predictable amount.

When the water is in my tank the PH is then reduced further via CO2
injection - the KH is stable.

If you were referring to using Aquarium peat in your filter then I
have
never used it so can't help - although I would think the effects
would
be
similar though maybe less dramatic.

rgds

I.

For blackwater rivers rich with tannins and humic acid which make the water
dark and light penetration difficult, that is certainly true. There are,
however, whitewater and clearwater regions as well which can support aquatic
plant life. Clearwater rivers, especially, have a higher mineral content.
I looked on a site I have bookmarked about Amazonian habitats and found
these two pages http://www.amazonian-fish.co.uk/c34.html and
http://www.amazonian-fish.co.uk/c6b1.html which describe aquatic plant life
there. It appears that grasses and floating plants (particularly lily pads)
are the most prevalent). What, no Amazon swords?

Nonetheless, apistos and planted tanks go together. Just look at
www.thekrib.com and you can tell that right away.

Jody

"Rich Conley" wrote in message
...
somebody was telling me that there are almost no plants in the rivers that
most
apistos live in...the thing that bringgs the PH down so much is all the
leaf
litter from the overhanging trees... The trees make these streams too dark
to
support plant life. This info was from his collecting trip.

Jody wrote:

Plenty of those soft-water South American rivers have both apistos AND
plants, so don't worry about it. Most apisto tanks have plants to help
give
the fish a secure feeling. Pure breeder tanks with bare bottoms
obviously
will not. But again, most community-type apisto tanks do have plants.
Conversely, most African Rift Lake tanks, which are hard and alkaline,
have
NO plants. That is mainly because those type of fish like to dig and
dine
on plants. To sum up, I think the type of water you have will dictate
the
type of fish you keep, and the type of fish you keep will dictate
plants. I
say enjoy both!

Jody

"Frank Mamone" wrote in message
...
Yes I was referring to using it in the aquarium filter to soften the
water
for the fish -- apistos, rams and tetras. But, I'm hearing here that
plants
like hard alkaline water! What a dilemma!



"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

"Frank Mamone" wrote in message
.. .
1) Will filtering with peat help the plants?

2) Will the peat affect Co2 calculations using the PH/KH? I know
phosphates
will.

Depends what you mean by peat filtering. I prepare the water for my
tanks
through a peat filtering rig I built - makes me about 50USG at a
time -
I
use ordinary garden peat. What I found wast that after the initial
filtering
there was massive (100-120ppm) amounts of CO2 in the water which
then
disperses over time as you'd expect.

Therefore what I do is measure the KH as its working and when that
comes
down to where I want it (about 5 DKh) then I stop the thing and
then
just
circulate the water till the initial blast of CO2 has worn off..
WHat I
then
find is that the relationship between KH/PH & CO2 levels seems to
work
perfectly well. i.e. the Ph has beeen reduced along side the Kh by a
predictable amount.

When the water is in my tank the PH is then reduced further via CO2
injection - the KH is stable.

If you were referring to using Aquarium peat in your filter then I
have
never used it so can't help - although I would think the effects
would
be
similar though maybe less dramatic.

rgds

I.