Black water conditioner

[Darbex]

Has anyone tried this especially for Discus? Does it really help or is it a waste of time?

[Matt in Houston]

Never tried the stuff you can buy in the store, but I have boiled and filtered peat moss and it works great. Gives the water a nice amber tint and lowers the PH a bit. Best part about it is the price. One bag of peat moss can probably make at least 2 gallons or more of extract depending on how strong you want it. I used to store tupperware containers full of boiled extract in the bottom drawer of the refridgerator, and add a couple cups when I did my weekly water change.

The other thing to consider are indian almond leaves. You can buy them off of ebay from a lady who has quite a reputation for quality.

The blackwater extract you buy in the store would be my last choice considering what you get for price. Doing frequent water changes could get expensive using that stuff.

I dont add anything now since my DIY co2 system has lowered my PH from 7.4 to ~6.9 and my driftwood tints my water within a couple days of each water change. I now think that the co2 is a far easier, cheaper and less messy way to lower ph.