September 16, 2017

Points of origin....

This is sort of one of those exciting developments that happens after you've been around for a time and start developing a devoted following:

We have more and more customers asking about botanicals from specific geographic regions, because you're looking to create a "Southeast Asian" or "Amazonian", or "West African"- themed tank.

This is a really big deal for us, because it shows that you've already been kind of comfortable with the whole idea of using botanicals in your tanks, and understand the basic "mind set" that we deploy (ya know, stuff makes the water brown, begins to decompose, etc.) and are now more focused on the implementation of botanicals for specific purposes.

And we're super happy about this "maturing" of the botanical craft as it pertains to our "twigs and nuts!"

Now, the important thing to know is that many of the botanicals we offer are found in various parts of the world, and can sort of "represent" materials found in specific geographic environments. We've kind of made that argument that, once leaves are submerged and starting to break down and such, one would be hard-pressed to make the call and state firmly that a given item somehow looks out of place from a geographic standpoint (unless, of course, one happens to be a botanist!).

That being said, we have started to indicate the origin of many of our botanicals in the product description pages, which we hope will provide both context and ideas for you. I think we will start featuring this more and more in both our writings and on the site itself, to really help you make better decisions. I know that many of you who are really into biotope aquariums need more geographic specificity for many components, so this might help. One customer made a great suggestion that we should be able to create some sort of geographic sorting capability on our site, and I will definitely speak to our tech people about the feasibility of such an idea!

Today, let's feature some of our items that come from Asia and the Sian sub-continent, for those of you who are playing with Asian-themed biotopes. Here are the botanicals which specifically come from Asia:

"Carambola Lixo"

"Coco Curls"

"Flor Rio Pods"

"Jungle Pods"

"Lampada Pods"

"Rio Fruta"

"Rio Passaro"

Guava Leaves

Teak Leaves

Banana Stems/Stem Pieces

Jackfruit Leaves

Cutch Bark

Catappa Leaves

Catappa Bark

Yellow Mangrove Leaves

Now, again, it's always been my personal opinion that you can utilize whatever items you want in virtually any situation, because even an Asian botanical perfectly represents a botanical item from say, Africa or South America. If you need to be geographically specific, than I'm sure you'll be happy to refer to this list now and again! We'll do the same for South America and Africa in coming installments.

Until then, thanks for your support, suggestions, and friendship. We're really excited about the many interesting things our community is working on in the botanical-styl, blackwater aquarium world! This Fall will see some of the biggest, most exciting developments in Tannin's history, and we can't wait to share them with you!

Until next time...

Stay creative. Stay enthusiastic. Stay progressive. Stay inspired.

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics