Keeping peat swamp fish

Setting up a biotope for a peat swamp is easy enough, but it does rely on being able to source high quality RO water. Peat swamps are characterised by a near absence of carbonates as well as an absurdly low pH courtesy of all of the accumulated acids.

The layout for a peat swamp tank involves a dark substrate, heaps of leaf litter and other botanicals (ideally packed with humic and tannic acids), low lighting, low flow and regular water changes — filters struggle to function at the low pH values needed to keep these fish. It’s usually best to opt for a small air-driven filter over a powerful canister design, as the latter will usually only get clogged by the abundant debris anyway.