Blackwater

[Nighttouch]

I have a 20g tank with sand substrate. a few live plants, one piece of driftwood with a few coreys and a couple of dwarf gouramis. I'm running one hob filter in which I've places a thick scotchbrite pad and a few pot scrubbies in place of the carbon filter cartridge.

I used some peat sphagnum in cheese cloth and boiled it like tea to get all the tannins out of the sphagnum. When the "tea" cooled, I added it to my tank. I got a really nice golden brown water, but it cleared up in a few hours.

Anyone know what I can do to make the brown water last longer?

 

[rafael707]

either boil some more, or find a way to place the peat into your filter, some people boil peat first then use pantyhoses to keep it together, then throw it into the HOB

 

[JK47]

I have a 20g tank with sand substrate. a few live plants, one piece of driftwood with a few coreys and a couple of dwarf gouramis. I'm running one hob filter in which I've places a thick scotchbrite pad and a few pot scrubbies in place of the carbon filter cartridge.

I used some peat sphagnum in cheese cloth and boiled it like tea to get all the tannins out of the sphagnum. When the "tea" cooled, I added it to my tank. I got a really nice golden brown water, but it cleared up in a few hours.

Anyone know what I can do to make the brown water last longer?

Ture tannin, is an acid, your filter will not remove it, UNLESS your running carbon, purigen etc.. in your filters. If you are remove it and it will last until removed via water changes.

 

[Kelly Bundy]

I use Tetra Blackwater which lasts a long time. But if you want a never ending "OMG WILL MY WATER EVER GET CLEAR AGAIN?" Get some Mopani wood at Petco. I did not want the tannin look and I soaked and rinsed and boiled my Mopani wood for weeks and it still dyed my aquarium water

 

[Poloboy]

find a way to place the peat into your filter

 

[Nighttouch]

I ended up pocketing some of the little pantyhose sock things from payless while my wife was shoe shopping. the fit nicely in my filter and the golden water is staying quite nicely. Thanks for the advise, everyone!