Is it o.k. to use organic sphagnum peat moss for a substrate for my pacmans and pixies? I usually use the compressed block of ecoearth(i think that is what it is called) but it is getting expensive due to the amount of frogs and the frequency of cleaning. I picked up a whole bale of the peat moss at the grain store but wanted to make sure it is safe before I use it.
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substrate
bigdogreps
Apr 05, 2010 04:50 PM
Replies (2)
BIGHYDRO
Apr 11, 2010 11:32 AM
Coco fiber is your best bet. It has a neutral ph as to where peat has about half the acidity as a Budweiser.
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BIGHYDRO
Apr 11, 2010 11:35 AM
My bad, it's actually got about the same as a beer.
here's some discussion we just had on the subject elsewhere.
"
It's widely used as a remedy for alkaline (high pH) soil in gardening, lowering aquarium pH, and in cultivating carnivorous plants that require acidic soil (which is where I first encountered it).
Now, it's important to note that the pH scale is logarithmic (like decibels). So if peat moss has a pH of 4 and your stomach acid a pH of 1, your stomach acid is 1000 times as acidic, not 4 times as acidic. Peat moss is about at the same level of acidity as beer or 50% diluted orange juice.
A little difference in pH can go a long way in sensitive organisms (just ask anyone who owns cichlid fish). pH is the concentration of hydrogen ions (freed from acids) in the solution, which can affect all many of chemical reactions. A good example is blood oxygen - change the pH, change the oxygen-binding of hemoglobin. A frog should be able to handle this, by pumping out the unwanted ions, but that does cost energy, and if the frog becomes sick for unrelated reasons, it may not have that energy to spare.
As with many things in biology, this is size dependent - an adult pyxie, with a lot of volume relative to its surface area, will find it less inconvenient than a small treefrog. It's also possible the ammonia the frog excretes may be raising the pH back to normal levels (ammonia is a fairly strong base). And I doubt it'll kill your frog or anything (though it might be problematic for very small species). But still, given that cocofiber is widely available and has a neutral pH, it's probably just not worth it to use peat."-Mokele
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