Post by Sach-Crabministrator on Jul 7, 2013 14:48:45 GMT -5
I was talking to someone on Facebook who wanted to use peat moss in their sub. I thought I had remembered that peat moss was either harmful or at least a poor choice for sub but couldn't remember exactly so I went looking.
Apparently sphagnum moss grows on top of bogs. As it grows, it starts sinking down into the water. This water is low in oxygen because of the decaying moss in it (the peat moss). The peat moss is decayed sphagnum moss. From what I have been reading, peat moss not only is nowhere near as good for gardening as people once believed, but using it has big environmental consequences and in my opinion should never be added to our crabs' substrate and I'll tell you why.
As the sphagnum breaks down in the bogs and becomes peat, it stores carbon (lots of it). Left in the wild, this is a good thing as it takes the carbon out of our atmosphere. However, once it is harvested, it starts releasing that carbon into the atmosphere. According to this article, "It breaks down too fast, compressing and squeezing air out of the soil, creating an unhealthy condition for plant roots." That right there is enough reason for me to not use it for plants or crabs, but wait, there's more According to both this article and Wikipedia, as it breaks down, it release carbon and Wikipedia also says, "Peat moss can also acidify its surroundings by taking up cations, such as calcium and magnesium, and releasing hydrogen ions." Do we really want to put something into our sub that acidifies (read; burns molters) and takes away nutrients important to healthy crabs, such as calcium and magnesium? I wouldn't. There is a person on HCA who was using a lot of peat moss & reported deformed molters, acid-like damage to exo (exo that doesn't thicken even with molts and age, but seems instead to get thinner or stay the same thickness over time) and even burns to their own hands when digging in their substrate.
Because it literally takes thousands of years for a peat bog to accumulate even a few feet of growth, harvesting it is an environmentally irresponsible practice. While it is growing, it takes in all that harmful carbon; purifying the air around it. When it is harvested, it releases all that harmful stuff into the air and because it takes SO long to grow more, harvesting it releases more & more carbon into the air without the purifying balance of taking IN more carbons. This makes it essentially unsustainable so buying it only contributes to this process, not to mention other environmental impacts involved with transporting it, etc.
So, officially, SCP is of the opinion that not only should peat moss not be used in gardening or crab-keeping because of the environmental impact, but because of the potential impact on the substrate and the crabs themselves.
Apparently sphagnum moss grows on top of bogs. As it grows, it starts sinking down into the water. This water is low in oxygen because of the decaying moss in it (the peat moss). The peat moss is decayed sphagnum moss. From what I have been reading, peat moss not only is nowhere near as good for gardening as people once believed, but using it has big environmental consequences and in my opinion should never be added to our crabs' substrate and I'll tell you why.
As the sphagnum breaks down in the bogs and becomes peat, it stores carbon (lots of it). Left in the wild, this is a good thing as it takes the carbon out of our atmosphere. However, once it is harvested, it starts releasing that carbon into the atmosphere. According to this article, "It breaks down too fast, compressing and squeezing air out of the soil, creating an unhealthy condition for plant roots." That right there is enough reason for me to not use it for plants or crabs, but wait, there's more According to both this article and Wikipedia, as it breaks down, it release carbon and Wikipedia also says, "Peat moss can also acidify its surroundings by taking up cations, such as calcium and magnesium, and releasing hydrogen ions." Do we really want to put something into our sub that acidifies (read; burns molters) and takes away nutrients important to healthy crabs, such as calcium and magnesium? I wouldn't. There is a person on HCA who was using a lot of peat moss & reported deformed molters, acid-like damage to exo (exo that doesn't thicken even with molts and age, but seems instead to get thinner or stay the same thickness over time) and even burns to their own hands when digging in their substrate.
Because it literally takes thousands of years for a peat bog to accumulate even a few feet of growth, harvesting it is an environmentally irresponsible practice. While it is growing, it takes in all that harmful carbon; purifying the air around it. When it is harvested, it releases all that harmful stuff into the air and because it takes SO long to grow more, harvesting it releases more & more carbon into the air without the purifying balance of taking IN more carbons. This makes it essentially unsustainable so buying it only contributes to this process, not to mention other environmental impacts involved with transporting it, etc.
So, officially, SCP is of the opinion that not only should peat moss not be used in gardening or crab-keeping because of the environmental impact, but because of the potential impact on the substrate and the crabs themselves.