What is peat?

It is a totally natural product that modifies the chemistry of your water, particularly its pH.

Peat is a lightweight, fibrous, and completely natural material. We use it to lower our pH and also to give a slight brown tint to our water. Peat is therefore mainly used for acidophilic fish, i.e., fish that prefer a pH below 7, around 5 or 6. It is also widely used to trigger reproduction. Many fish indeed need water that is a bit more acidic than usual to induce spawning.

Most peat bogs in the Northern Hemisphere were formed since the last glaciation, which occurred approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in the Southern Hemisphere. Peat bogs can be even older. A peat bog begins to form when groundwater or rainwater collects on dense, poorly drained soil. A virgin peat bog consists of more than 95% water. Peat begins to develop with the partial decay of the surface.

Water and a lack of oxygen slow down the action of microbes, causing decay, which contributes to the development of peat. Sphagnum moss is one of the most common plants at the origin of peat. Others, relatively important, include sedges, grasses, woody plants, shrubs, numerous other mosses, common reeds, etc. The top layer of a peat bog serves as a support for living plants. Beneath it lie dead or decomposing materials.

The metamorphosis is gradual, especially in the case of mosses; it is difficult to define the boundary between the dead mass and the living part. A peat bog can form in three different ways. Firstly, vegetation invades the land immediately after the retreat of ice or water. The phenomenon continues to occur today on the East Coast of Canada, in Sweden and Finland, and in the White Sea region in Northwest Russia. Secondly, peat bog plants invade the forest or adjacent mineral soil and can then slowly stifle the trees and other plants.

Thirdly, a peat bog can be born from the overflow of a body of water. A lake or pond can thus fill up from the bottom or from the surface, or both.

Peat bogs can also be classified according to the water source. Ombrotrophic bogs, whose moisture is largely obtained from nutrition, originate from rainwater, are dominated by mosses, and frequently reach several meters in thickness above the surrounding ground level.

Minerotrophic bogs, located in depressions and dominated by sedges, reeds, or trees, draw their moisture and nutrition from deep or shallow groundwater, as well as from rain. Nature also combines these two structural types; a primitive peat bog is a continuously growing natural resource.

How is peat used for ponds?

Peat is a filtration medium that can be used for ponds. It has the power to modify water chemistry. Its use in our internal or external filter is completely optional and depends entirely on your needs and, above all, those of your fish. Peat is considered a chemical filtration medium. Not that it consists of chemicals—quite the contrary.

The brown coloration of the water by peat is inevitable. If you have this coloration, it is simply because the peat contains a lot of tannin, and it is this tannin that will lower the pH. But even if for many of us, slightly yellow water is not very pleasant, in nature, water is never, or almost never, crystal clear. Especially in Amazonian ponds, where the water is very often yellowish, loaded with tannin. And if you want to create an Amazonian biotope, for example with black water, peat is almost indispensable.

First and foremost, it is important to emphasize that the balance of your pond is sensitive!

A pH level that is too high can harm your fish and your plants. AquaActiv AquaHumin is 100% natural, acts on the acidity level, and fights against algae proliferation. The peat should be placed near the pump or even at the foot of a waterfall. After use, the peat can be used to fertilize your garden.

Peat is not a permanent filtration medium. It gets exhausted and will need to be changed regularly.