It's about wood. It's about form. It's about function.

As I've mentioned repeatedly, the "botanical-style" aquarium is not really a "style"- it's more of an approach. A methodology. A mindset.  A mindset which embraces what we call "functional aesthetics"- a way of appreciating the collateral benefits of the materials we utilize to create our aquariums. A sort of "function first" approach.

And as a supplier of natural materials, and lover of a cool aquairum or two, we often receive questions from fellow hobbyists asking about how to achieve a certain result, or what can be used to achieve it. 

We receive tons of questions about wood.

We field a lot of questions about why we only carry certain types of wood, or what "the best wood is for _______________?"

The answer to the first part of the question is because I really have specific feelings about wood in botanical-style aquariums, and what the point of using wood is in our aquairums. Like, yeah, I want stuff to look good- but to me, it's more about recreating some of the amazing features found in wild aquatic habitats like flooded forests and jungle streams.

Wood tells a story. Or. part of a story, anyways.

A story of the interrelationship between the terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and how each is influenced by the other. 

There are natural structures, such as fallen tree trunks/branches, and submerged root systems, which I find compelling and irresistible- and not every type of wood used in the aquarium trade seems to represent these features well, IMHO.

I mean, pretty much any wood used in the aquarium hobby can work; I just found over the years that I'm drawn to a certain look that can best be achieved with certain varieties of wood. I never intended to make Tannin Aquatics a generalized "one stop shop" for wood, rock, and aquascaping stuff, offering every variety under the sun. There are a lot of places that do that well.

We're a bit more specialized, as you know.

And there is another reason:

I'll come right out and admit it: I'm not much of an "aquascaper." Like, you could take the same rocks and wood as me, and come up with something epic and beautiful. I just don't have that designer's touch or whatever.

And really, I couldn't care less! I enjoy doing what I do, and sharing the ideas with more talented hobbyists like you!

I like to replicate stuff I see in the natural aquatic habitats of the world, if both form and function. Often it's function first, and the aesthetic is a "collateral benefit" of sorts.

"Okay, cool, Scott- but about your wood choices...."

Okay, fine, let's discuss that briefly.

When it comes to wood, I have  developed a sort of "taste" for certain types of wood. Typically, they are the more tangled, root-like varieties. That's reflected in the selections of materials we offer at Tannin, and what I tend to use in my personal tanks.

One of the most consistently popular wood types in our hobby is what is known as "Spider Wood",  which I understand to be the roots of Rhododendron (aka Azalea), a genus of over a thousand woody plants found in Asia and North America. Like everything else in the aquarium hardscape trade, the exact species or origins are seemingly kept shrouded in a sort of deliberate mystery by vendors.

I don't know why, because it's not like every hobbyist is suddenly going to eschew buying the stuff and start digging up every Rhododendron in the neighborhood looking for the perfect root! That being said, it's no mystery why the stuff is popular! It looks pretty cool... It has a definite  root-like configuration, which lends itself well to all sorts of aquascaping applications.

You can't really go wrong with this stuff, either using it alone, or combining it with other wood/root varieties. 

And, as an added "bonus", this stuff releases a lot of nice, water-tintitng tannins...something that freaks the f---out of most hardcore aquascapers (much to my sadistic delight, as you know), but something that our tribe just loves! Oh, and the plant (and I think likely by extension, the roots) is known to offer "..possible anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activities" (in humans, I might add)which may be due to the antioxidant effects of flavonoids or other phenolic compounds and saponins the plant contains...

If you recall, some of these same substances are known to occur in Catappa leaves, and there are documented fish health benefits of catappa, validated in scientific research.

SO...hmm...maybe?

Oh, and it does tend to recruit a fair amount of gooey fungal/biofilm growth shortly after submersion, often to the horror of the unaware...So, if ever there were a candidate for "pre-soaking" wood before using in the aquarium, "Spider Wood" is it. Granted, this growth will usually subside after a few weeks of submersion, and some well-timed scrubbing with a soft-bristled brush.

And it looks cool. You can do lots of cool stuff with it.

And it works really well with more "fine-textured" roots, like Melastoma.

One of my favorite tanks I ever created, the so-called "Tucano Tangle" was a fusion of Melastoma root and "Spider Wood."

It was so easy that I'm almost embraced about all of the accolades I've received for this tank over the years. It was literally a matter of stacking a few pieces of "Spider Wood" to form a sort of "platform" for about 6-10 pieces of Melastoma root...and that was it. No great aquascaping skill or feat of aesthetics. No gluing intricate pieces of wood together...Nope- it was literally about placing the pieces on top of each other and pushing until  everything locked together. 

That's how effortless "aquascaping" can be really.

Or should I say, that's how effortless attempting to recreate a component of the natural habitat of some fishes can be, aesthetics-wise. Especially when you have the right materials! From there, it was about the environment: Water chemistry, flow, substrate, temperature, biology...The stuff that I personally find far more interesting than trying to achieve the perfect "look" every time. 

I think we over-obsess on wood too much.

I think much of the frustration that many hobbyists encounter in the "aquascaping" process is caused by trying to create some perfect scene they have in their minds, or to recreate something they saw in someone else's tank. Looking for the perfect piece of wood to match the vision or the execution that you're trying to replicate. It can be pretty hard to do that.  And never quite as fun as looking at something you see in Nature and working on that.

So, as an alternative, may I suggest attempting to replicate- in both form and function- a feature in a natural underwater habitat where your target fishes come from?

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