SORRY ANOTHER PEAT QUESTION:harm from CHARCOAL in peat???

[Zach Valois]

Well thanks everybody for the input and looken at my threads.
BUT i always find small chunks of what i'm assuming is charcoal.(some brands have it ..and some don't..but i can't remember what one's do or don't) It is black, and makes marks like damn marker or very thick pencil. Basiclly if you took a chunk of BBQ charcoal and scraped it on the sidewalk,, thats what it is like.
i don't know what else it could be. Or why it is in the peat. It is a natural substance?
What do you think the effects of charcoal could be on inverts. Or any enviromental conditions in the cages, it can't be that bad if so many people i have come across in all my exotic keeping/breeding years have used it flawlessly.

ALL replys are welcomed, thanks all!!!!!

Zach
OutLander Inverts

p.s. ...is there any certain brand of peat that is recomended?????????????? or place to buy it from?
i usually go to home depot or lowes.

 

[JohnxII]

Yeah they do look like black stones/charcoal. Try squeezing one with your fingers, it will break down into dark brownish soil. Should do no harm.

 

[xBurntBytheSunx]

isn't charcoal used in water filters and all sorts of things to filter out toxic gasses and what not?

 

[caligulathegod]

I almost always lay down a layer of charcoal on the bottom of my terrariums. My burrowing tarantulas never have a problem with it.

 

[luther]

Small pieces of charcoal in the peat will do no harm to your T. They may even help to stabilise the chemical environment.

The best peat is any organic peat, cut from somewhere that is not being destroyed by the process. Do not buy Miracle Grow, since that is harvested from the moor near me in Yorkshire, UK and there's almost nothing left but dead land.

 

[vulpina]

Yes they use charcoal to remove impurities in water, actually it is used in aquarium filters. It will filter out medications in an aquarium, before you treat fish for any disease you should remove the charcoal from your filters. We use it in the hospital to treat drug overdoses (ingestion), it neutralizes toxins. It should do no harm in a T enclosure.

Andy

 

[JohnxII]

Sorry I guess I wasn't reading carefully. Anyhow, I agree that chacoal is a good toxin purifier. It might even deter mites, who knows?

As for the peat moss, I think any appropiately sized bag with those resealable "ziplock" is good. I use Schultz Peat Moss made from Canadian sphagnum moss, found it in some gardening supply store.

 

[Zach Valois]

charcoal reply

Chacoal being benificial in the cages, does make sense whe you guys mention that. i do breed and keep some freshwater tropicals so that should have been an easy one for me. THANKS EVERYBODY FOR THE REPLYS!!!
I like to have knowlagble people (may i say like myself.... ) there is only ONE person in my state that even keeps inverts on a larger level..let alone breed them. I don't feel so alone now. Plus being sixteen, pet stores tend to ignore and/or rip me off.


heres to the invert savvy people of america!!

Zach
OutLander Inverts

 

[luther]

heres to the invert savvy people of america!!

LOL, you got answers from Hong kong and the UK too!

 

[vulpina]

Zach,
That's when you turn the tables on the pet stores who rip you off!! If you have a good knowledge of animals it's not too hard to do, alot of the pet stores around here hire young (high school/college) people to work. They have no knowledge of the animals they deal with, I have gotten fish alot cheaper than the price on the tanks because the employees do not know what they have. You have seen the fish tanks with many different species in them, I have gotten deals because they don't know what they are catching and mark the wrong price on the bags, I just pay and leave.

Andy