Re: [Killietalk] Peat Moss for Annuals

[Mark Pearlscott <mark at pearlscott_com>]

Hi Joakim,

As you mentioned, some people like the more coarse peat moss since it 
does allow more air movement among the peat more easily.  I actually 
prefer the very fine peat moss, and just fluff it up well for storage... 
which works just as well for me.  Because I use fine peat moss, it 
breaks up really easily when I'm wetting the eggs, which is very nice. 
I'm also worried that the more coarse peat will tend to damage the eggs 
too, but that may be unfounded.

I buy the peatmoss in large bale size bags from my local plant nursery. 
  Then I put it into a sieve (.5mm hole size) and spray it with a water 
nozzle.  Only very fine peat makes it through the sieve, and that I 
recollect using a green aviary net (the kind to catch a bird that got 
out of its cage) which I picked up at Petsmart.  The aviary net has a 
hole size that is slightly larger than that of a brine shrimp net.  The 
nice thing is that it also is a very large net compared to most brine 
shrimp nets, and it is generally constructed well.  The dust particles 
of the peat go through, while the fine peat is kept.  I then put a 
handful of the fine peat into a large mug and saturate the peat with 
water.  I microwave the mug/peat for 4 minutes.  I then allow it to cool 
on its own.  When cool, I squeeze out the peat (saving the peat tea in a 
bottle for later use in hatching annuals... add the appropriate amount 
of salt to the peat tea if using for Nothos, and it probably won't hurt 
other fry anyhow) and drop it into whatever killie tank needs peat.

Another reason I sieve my peat before use is that I can always re-sieve 
the peat to extract the eggs from it.  This does damage the eggs, so it 
isn't a good idea to do this too often (because the viable egg ratio 
tends to drop a third to a half), but it can be nice to get an idea how 
productive a pair of fish are.

Having said all that, I used to just grab a handful of peat from the big 
bale bag, boil it (as mentioned), and use as is.  The sieving process 
also tends to get rid of the bits of peat that float, which I always 
find annoying to skim off the surface of the water when I'm wetting 
eggs.  If you don't re-use your peat, after sterilization of course, 
then I would not bother sieving it as I mention.  Sieving for 6 small 
tanks worth of peat takes about an hour.  Skimming the floating bits of 
peat off of the water when wetting eggs takes 5-15 minutes.  Re-using 
the peat makes the sieving process less time intensive over the long 
haul (for me), and as I mentioned... eliminates those floaty bits.

Hope my ramblings have been useful.  Good luck.

Mark
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Mark Pearlscott, LMP
Treatment Massage, The Injury & Pain Relief Clinic
4500 9th Avenue NE, Suite 300-34, Seattle, WA 98105
http://www.TreatmentMassage.com
(206) 234-9929

"Assisting You to Wellness."
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coveney wrote:
> Hello all,
> I was curious as to how all of you prepare your peat moss for the storage of annual eggs.  I am currently boiling it for 20-30 minutes, letting it cool down, squeezing it out well and then repeating the whole process one more time.  Do any of you remove any of the fine particles or do you just boil it and use it as is?  Would removing any of the fine particles let it "breathe" more during storage?  If you do remove any of the peat dust, how exactly are you doing this?  What brand names are you using?  Thanks for your input!
> 
> Joakim Coveney
> Naples, Florida
> AKA #06590
> Join the AKA at http://aka.org/modules/tinycontent0/index.php?id=9
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