I am a friend of Bernd and an admirer of his successes and his devotion to our fish since many years already. This is exemplary in the world of the Paro-enthusiasts.
But I want to repeat that the ease of the old aquarists to recommend peat for filtering and other purposes in aquaristcs is for ever gone. We have a problem if we condemn the destruction of peat swamps in South-east Asia, the habitats of our Paro-fishes, on the one hand, and buy peat for our nice aquariums on the other. Although it is a tiny quantity in relation to the mass which is used for burning or gardening or medical reasons (peat-baths), it is a step in the global destruction of the peat heritage on our earth.
Why not say: Goodbye peat, rest in peace where you originated by nature in some thousands of years; it was nice, you were very helpful to us, but nowadays we don’t need you any longer for gardening, bathing or fishkeeping. There are other measures which could be applied for the same aim.