August 11, 2015

How dark do you want your water?

Funny question? Not really!

We've had a lot of hobbyists ask us what the top "tinting" botanicals would be to really give their water the "Rio Negro" treatment.

The answer is that just about every botanical we offer will impart some tint to the water. However, the quickest, strongest ones would have to be the good ol' Catappa leaves, followed by Alder Cones, Catappa Bark, and then moving on into some of the pods like "Frita Pods", "Tapete Pods", "Helix Pods", Coco "Curls" and then, surprisingly- Cholla, which gives a pleasing yellowish-amber tint over time if you don't boil it first!

How much to use is going to be based on personal judgement and taste. Most of our habitat enrichment /substrate enhancement packages will be more than adequate for 10-30 gallon tanks. However, there are a lot of factors, such as your local water chemistry, water volume, and how you're using the materials, which can affect the degree of "tint" imparted to the water.

The reefer in me has been doing some interesting experiments with hardware and botanicals (uh- ohh!) lately! As mentioned previously, soon we'll be discussing some new ways to give your tank "the tint" without necessarily having the materials in the tank itself.

For full preparation notes on every botanical we offer, check our "Aquatic BotanicalPreparation" page!

Keep it dark...

And stay wet!

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics