Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i've recently (last month) acquired a 5" matamata,and the more research on it that i do,the more it seems that they prefer relatively acidic water.is sphagnum moss ok for this purpose?and should i put it straight into the tank,as floating cover,or should i put it in the filter,to both filter the water & acidify it at the same time?is acidic water even really neccasary?roughly half the info that i can find online(via google)say yes,the other half say not really.i just want to make my baby comfy,i've waited 20 yrs for this turtle.any help would be appreciated.
thanks,chris
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1.1 coastal carpets (adidas,serena)
1.0 bearded dragon (trouble)
0.0.1 ally snapper (megalon)
0.0.1 matamata (jub jub)
1.1 eastern box turtles (spanky,lacey)
1.1 penisula cooters (ms piggy,turtle to be named later)
1.0 mutt (rufus)
2.0 kids (cb)
0.1 wife (wc)

oh....great!!!!
you have got the mata mata already!?!?
i also really want, but i am still saving the money, you know my income is only 8k, and mata mata in HK is around 2K...
i also need to give money for my parent and return the loan to our government...that's why i am still saving....

very jealous, that you own the matamata...
remember to pay more patient to that guy...post some photo and let us share your happiness...

cheers.
haha...

I use peat "pellets". Fluvall has some available that you can get from a pet store. I put it in nylon filter bags or you can use some stockings. I put the bag with the peat into the filter making sure water is able to pass freely through it. It may discolor the water but that is OK.

they make a liquid ph drop I just add some to the water and put some live plants in also. I have 3 up to 8 inches that i keep in a kiddie pool. 35 to 40 gallons is what is in the pool and my ph is in the 5s. Even with my cleaning and adding 10 gallons of fresh water every other day my ph stays steady. Peat moss kinda messy for me , I dont need it