Hey I am wondering about blackwater. R they good with rays and discus? I do not have a ray but we r planning to move to Seattle and might get one there. And how easy is it to maintain? And wat is it good for. I am pretty much mindless about blackwater.
Wat is blackwater?
- Thread starter OMGFISH
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Blackwater
Adding of Peat/Driftwood/Chemical to give the aquarium water a nice yellow tone. The tone caused by tannin. Peat has them, driftwood leeches them and commercial chemicals contain them.
People usually use peat to give that nice tone to mimick the Amazon River Basin.
Besides the yellow/dark tone, Peat also lowers the pH and soften the water.
I'll leave it up to the discus and rays expert to tell you about their preference.
Adding of Peat/Driftwood/Chemical to give the aquarium water a nice yellow tone. The tone caused by tannin. Peat has them, driftwood leeches them and commercial chemicals contain them.
People usually use peat to give that nice tone to mimick the Amazon River Basin.
Besides the yellow/dark tone, Peat also lowers the pH and soften the water.
I'll leave it up to the discus and rays expert to tell you about their preference.
What spirit is showing is a somewhat simulated blackwater environment in an aquarium. Blackwater in nature, like in the amazon, is generally very low current soft acidic water stained with tannins from decaying plant matter. Just because you dump backwater extract or use peat or just have a lot of tannins in your water doesn't mean it is a true blackwater environment. If your kh is high, tannins or extract won't drop your ph at all. So you can't really claim your tank is truly "blackwater" just because you dump some extract in without taking other parameters into account.
This is what blackwater looks like in nature.
This is what blackwater looks like in nature.
OMGFISH;4985018; said:
^ Clockwork pretty much nailed it.. The tannin and humic acids leached by decaying vegitation don't just lower ph/soften the water, they are providing on the extreme side of the scale for the hobby. The best way to manage blackwater consitently IMO is by using an RO (reverse osmosis) filter. It will strip your water down to basic perams and you reconststute it for mineral content and set the ph. (blackwater can be achieved without any tint to the water BTW) If your not commited to the extra work of RO, most would suggest leaving you tap as is and having the hardness remain consistent.
Blackwater does allot special, there are some species that should not be kept in the average hobbiests tank unless true blackwater conditions can be met. Uaru fernandezyepezi come to mind as true blackwater species. Have a poke on bro Google and see if he gets you some interesting results on the fish not being kept in true blackwater conditions
Blackwater especially the tinted look is SEXY!!
To answer your question, yes. How "black" ie - soft/acidic depends on the species and your research of the care for said species.