TetraAqua Blackwater Extract.... Any good?

[Jazmine]

How about the bacteria??

 

[Kyle_91]

I think im just gonna wait on the blackwater extract, because i plan on getting some malaysian driftwood pieces and re-doing my tank...
The driftwood itself is gonna relieve some hint of tannin in the water anyways...

 

[Kyle_91]

okay so today I saw a nice dark "fake" piece of driftwood today at my LFS and i couldn't resist... i had to do it cause i had some grey/blueish river rocks at my house lying around that matched it pretty damn good.
Here is my tank before:

Here is my tank today:

My question to everyone is, will my tank look okay with the blackwater extract? Im outside of a small town so well water is the option.
I have dropped a few gallons of distilled water every-so-often in the tank...

(p.s. better pics tonight, bad lighting as of 2:52pm today)

 

[skillzizzo]

Diddnt read all the post. But i personaully love this stuff. I have used it on alot of tanks in the past. First time i ever used it was on My 120 when i was growing out my jar. Been in love with it ever sence. I have 5 local fish stores near me. And i cant get the stuff in them. Makes your water darker. Not like the red tanning of drift wood. But like a dark shaddy gray. Fish love it. Softens the water. And is a actuall water conditioner to boot. Makes the water like a shadded river bank or something to that nature. And a more natural vibe. Throw in a couple of pieces of drift wood. And some natural sand. And the perfect set up ever. At least to my opinion. Buy a bottle and give it a shot any ways. Just use in one week on a water change. Instead of prime or what ever water conditioner you normally use.

 

[Kyle_91]

Diddnt read all the post. But i personaully love this stuff. I have used it on alot of tanks in the past. First time i ever used it was on My 120 when i was growing out my jar. Been in love with it ever sence. I have 5 local fish stores near me. And i cant get the stuff in them. Makes your water darker. Not like the red tanning of drift wood. But like a dark shaddy gray. Fish love it. Softens the water. And is a actuall water conditioner to boot. Makes the water like a shadded river bank or something to that nature. And a more natural vibe. Throw in a couple of pieces of drift wood. And some natural sand. And the perfect set up ever. At least to my opinion. Buy a bottle and give it a shot any ways. Just use in one week on a water change. Instead of prime or what ever water conditioner you normally use.

Thanks for the info, glad to see someone on here uses it and likes it. The more i read up about it the more I wanna get it lol.
I guess i'll be making a trip to the pet store tomorrow hopefully

 

[Kyle_91]

Finally got ahold of the blackwater extract, just added some into the tank.
I'll be posting up a few pics of it when its cycled enough.

 

[Kyle_91]

I added however much was needed to my tank according to the bottle today, however, it doesn't look the way I expected it to look..
Any auggestions??

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

I have to warn you from that stuff. Tetra uses phosphates to stabilize the humic acids in their product. Remember old laundry detergents and the algae blooms they caused in lakes? Yeah. That's bottled in Tetra's blackwater extract. A friend of mine analyzed it in her chemistry lab, and Tetra admitted to it when I contacted them about it. That was a few years ago, but still wouldn't trust them ....

If you really want to go with bottled peat additives, try Sera Blackwater Aquatan instead, it's phosphate-free.

HarleyK

 

[Kyle_91]

HarleyK - Thank you for the heads up! i really appreciate it.
This is my tank as of today. It sorta has a tannin look to it but not too much whereas i thought it'd be:

like i said it has just a hint of the tannin look. (cell phone pic)