Black water tank

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H

hexaune

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 15, 2010
20
0
0
birmingham uk
First things first, hi there (this is my first post), I'm a new monster fish keeper (in the UK) , having recently taken on two polypterus and I'm new to this forum!

I really love the look of black water tanks, I know they are not everyones cup of tea but I love how fish look in the darker water, especially when its got interesting bogwood and plants in it.

The problem I've got is that my bogwood hasn't leached anywhere near as much as I was hoping.

Is there any way to darken the water without using peat (struggling to find it in England) or oak leaves (not the right time of year).

I thought that maybe using some tea leaves would do the trick but I'm worried it might hurt my polypterus.
 
welcome!!! i'm represent the uk too! (northeast of course!)
 
BODYDUB;3996745; said:
<-----------NOOB time. What's a black water tank?????
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Where the water is the colour of tea (without milk :grinno:) as opposed to see through. I've been looking it up on the net (where I find the name).
 
BODYDUB;3996745; said:
<-----------NOOB time. What's a black water tank?????
Click to expand...

Black water is basically the slow moving rivers/stream mostly found in south america. There is so much wood, branches and vegatation decaying and leaching tannin acid in the water that it appears dark brown or black. There are some amazing species that come from these systems all of which need soft acidic water/lower end PH. Discus for example come from blackwater.

hexaune;3996666; said:
The problem I've got is that my bogwood hasn't leached anywhere near as much as I was hoping.

Is there any way to darken the water without using peat (struggling to find it in England) or oak leaves (not the right time of year).

I thought that maybe using some tea leaves would do the trick but I'm worried it might hurt my polypterus.
Click to expand...

1) welcome to MFK bro! 2) congrats on having taste! Most of MFK is not into blackwater and you'll find more posts about how to get rid of tannins rather than add them. I am a tannin lover so will happily help with questions if you want to PM me. As for getting more tannnin in the tank via the natural route, do you have access to mopani wood in your location? I find mopani leaches heavily with some of the best color. The larger (thicker) the wood, the more tannin acid to be leached and for longer. There are a few extract products but I don't like to use them. I have a deal with a local LFS in my area to buy all the pieces/chunks (no one would buy, they used to toss them) of wood from large wood shipments. I get it cheap and it goes in my sump in large mesh bags.

I keep some pretty dark tanks lol. They below 125g color is from malaysian driftwood which is a little to orange for me. Switching over to mopani soon for a darker more golden color. ;)

P3020228.JPG
 
About the tea leaves comment, if your talking about the tea leaves you drink i think i would stay well away from them, since i'm sure the fish don't really appreciate caffeine(sp)??? or maybe they do and we just don't know...
 
JK47;3997114; said:
1) welcome to MFK bro! 2) congrats on having taste! Most of MFK is not into blackwater and you'll find more posts about how to get rid of tannins rather than add them. I am a tannin lover so will happily help with questions if you want to PM me. As for getting more tannnin in the tank via the natural route, do you have access to mopani wood in your location? I find mopani leaches heavily with some of the best color. The larger (thicker) the wood, the more tannin acid to be leached and for longer. There are a few extract products but I don't like to use them. I have a deal with a local LFS in my area to buy all the pieces/chunks (no one would buy, they used to toss them) of wood from large wood shipments. I get it cheap and it goes in my sump in large mesh bags.

I keep some pretty dark tanks lol. They below 125g color is from malaysian driftwood which is a little to orange for me. Switching over to mopani soon for a darker more golden color. ;)

View attachment 479109
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Cheers mate, yeh its crazy, I think they look amazing yet there is so little info on them. As you say every one is obsessed with transparent water.

Will have to try getting some mopani on the net, or pop into the LFS and sepcifically ask them for some.


Nice tank btw, at some point once I've managed to get a half decent photo of it (never realised how hard that would be) will post my tank up on here.
 
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