July 13, 2020

Transitioning to "The Tint"...slowly!

It's pretty incredible to see the explosion in interest in botanical-style aquariums in the last several months. To call this stuff a "trend" is simply to sell this stuff too short. Nature abhors trends (and so do I, btw...), and the idea of using botanical materials in our aquariums is actually an extremely natural process.

Yet, it's a lot different than what we're used to, right?

I realize that a lot of newcomers to our "side of the fence" are simply not sure if this stuff is for them. Many are drawn to the overall aesthetic, but are still put off by the idea of stuff decomposing in their aquariums; about fungal growths, biofilms, and detritus. These are things which go against the grain of everything that we as aquarists have been indoctrinated to believe.

And I think that one of the most important themes we need to continually revisit is what we've called the "mental shift" that we as hobbyists must make when working with a botanical-style blackwater aquarium.

Now, it sounds a bit, well- "dramatic"- but we've all come to realize that botanical-style aquariums have a different "operating system" (literally and figuratively) than pretty much any other type of aquatic system you'd keep. Not that there is some big "mystery" or "secret" to keeping one...Like any aquarium, you simply need to understand, appreciate, and yes- enjoy- the characteristics, phases, and nuances of this type of system.

Most immediately obvious...is color of the water.

In many botanical-style aquariums, the water sports a significant tint. It's just something that you as a newcomer to this world have to really fundamentally get used to. Now, sure, you can use botanicals in the aquarium and NOT have a 'blackwater"-like environment. You could certainly utilize activated carbon or other chemical filtration media to remove the water-tinting tannins from the aquarium while still retaining much of the beneficial humic substances, but for most of us, "brown" is a foregone conclusion.

It's what brought a lot of us to "the dark side" in the first place!

We're totally fine with it.

That being said, there is a certain "look" to the water in a blackwater aquarium which goes beyond the color. It's a sort of "patina" if you will, or a subtle variation in the way light plays upon the surface. You compare your blackwater tank to a "white water" system, and it becomes immediately obvious that there is a radical difference!

Water aesthetics aside, perhaps the toughest part of the "mental shift" for many is the understanding that botanical materials break down in the water column as they impart tannins and other substances into the environment. The well-manicured aquascape you might have conceived will be continuously reshaped by Nature as the leaves, seed pods, and other botanical materials are broken down by bacterial and fungal action.

To many, this is a huge and remarkable departure, aestehtic-wise, from the more controlled, high-concept planted "Nature Aquarium" which has been extolled for much of the past two decades. On the other hand, the transient nature of the botanicals is the very embodiment of Takashi Amano's Japanese-garden-derived appreciation for "wabi-sabi", or the acceptance of the beauty of a state of transience and imperfection.

Don't believe me? Look that shit up.

This is huge.

And then, there are the fungal growths and biofilms...

Ahh, biofilms...Yes, those lovely coatings of bacterial material that begin to appear some time after your botanicals have been submerged" for a time. The appearance of biofilms is a sort of "stage", or even a "right of passage" if you will, which almost every botanical-style aquarium goes through. And yeah, they're present throughout the functional life of these aquariums.

And, we tell our community over and over that this is a completely natural normal occurrence; bacteria and other microorganisms taking advantage of a perfect substrate upon which to grow and reproduce, just like in Nature. Freshly added botanicals offer a "mother load"of organic material and surface area for these biofilms to propagate upon, and that's occasionally what happens - just like in Nature.

Their presence "waxes and wanes" to a certain extent- the product of a botanical bioload. Yet they're always there, as they are in natural habitats. And making the effort to understand, and even appreciate their appearance as a sign that your aquarium is functioning as Nature intended is the biggest step in achieving what can only be called "aquatic enlightenment."

The realization that Nature is not the pristine, orderly environment that we have conjured up in our stylized aquariums and global aquascaping contests is perhaps the most difficult thing for the aspiring "tinter" to grasp.

We've been indoctrinated for so long to think that this is the way Nature is, and that the definition of a successful, well-conceived, or "healthy and clean" system is one that consists of perfectly symmetrical/intentionally-placed/trimmed plants, pearly-white sand, and impeccably clean driftwood. Of course, the reality is that this is just one aesthetic, and that Nature rarely has such circumstances combining in the same place.

Rather, it's a world of biofilms, patinas of algae, randomly distributed botanical debris, scattered rocks and wood tangles, deposited by currents, rain, and even the fishes themselves, settling into positions that typically defy the "Golden Ratio" and other human-created constructs.

I know that much love in modern aquascaping is given to things like "surgical cleanliness", manicured plants, carefully symmetrical rockwork, proportion, negative space, etc. Many of the most breathtaking contest 'scapes adeptly embrace this concept.

That's awesome. It's all well and good...

Nature, other hand, couldn't give a flying f-ck about that.

And neither should you.

Ouch.

Yeah. It's true, though.

Tough love, there!

NEWS FLASH: What we proffer-our interpretation of Nature- is not everyone's idea of a dreamy aquarium.

Frankly, it puts off some people. It scares the living shit out of others. And many just don't understand. They can't get past brown, soupy water, decomposition, and all of the good stuff that goes with it. IMHO, they've been sort of "programmed" by the world of aquascapoing contests that perfectly clean sand, bright lighting, rocks you could eat off of, and wood that, on day 45, looks as sterile as they day it was submerged are the ONLY way to go. Oh, wait...Don't those guys usually break down their tanks by day 45?😆 Maybe it's day 30....

("C'mon, Fellman, THAT was just mean!")

It's okay. I get it. We all get it.

That's the mental shift you have to make if you're going to play with botanical-style aquariums in their purest sense.

So, how do you transition a botanical-style aquarium? It starts with a few questions:

The obvious questions we need to ask ourselves when commencing such a change are, "Do the fishes which I keep come from this type of environment in Nature?" and "Am I willing to take the time to do it slowly?"The answer to the first question is pretty obvious- and it's almost sort of insulting that I'd even mention it...but "due diligence", ya' know...

My personal recommendation is to start with relatively small quantities of materials, usually leaves, and then work in the more durable botanicals like seed pods and such. I guess my thought process is that materials such as leaves tend to break down more quickly, imparting their humic acids and tannins into the water at a corresponding pace.

And of course, after your initial additions, you should measure pH again, to see if there has been any impact. A lot of hobbyists are into checking TDS as well...We've beaten up that subject quite a bit in past blogs here, and it's discussed a lot by hobbyists, so it's something you might want to research.

Obviously, the question here is "how much stuff do I start with?" And of course, my answer is...I have no idea. Yeah, what a shocker, right? I realize that's the least satisfying, possibly least helpful answer I could give to this question. Or is it? I mean, taking into account all of the possible variables, ranging from the type of water your starting with, to what kind of substrate material you're using, it would be a shot in the dark, at best.

My advice is to start with conservatively small quantities of stuff...like, maybe a half a dozen leaves for every 15 US gallons (56.78L) of water. You might not even notice any difference..or you might see a .2 reduction in pH...You have to test.

I recommend a digital pH meter for best accuracy.

I would make it a habit to add the same amount of materials (leaves initially, and pods if you want to mix 'em in on subsequent additions) at a regular interval. Say, every 4 or 5 days. Test again. See where you're at. I would tend to shoot for not reducing your pH by more than .5 per week. That's me of course...your fishes' tolerance and your personal comfort level with doing so is your call. And it's really a matter of repeating this process until you hit your desired range.

Notice I said "range" and not "target pH" or whatever?

And remember- as we've said a million times here: Botanicals can not soften hard water. Their influence on pH is significantly limited in water with high carbonate hardness.

We receive a lot of questions about utilizing chemical filtration media while using botanicals, and again, there is no "right or wrong" here. I will tell you from my personal experience that I like to use filtration materials like Seachem "Renew", small amounts of activated carbon ("Seriously, Fellman? Activated carbon?" Yes, really.), and Poly Filter on a full-time basis in my systems.

The reality is that organic scavenger resins, carbons, and materials like "Renew" might be indiscriminate in their removal of stuff like humic substances, tannins, and other organic compounds released by the botanicals, but they also tend to moderate things you don't want, like ammonia and "miscellaneous" organics (how's that for a "cop out" on my part...falling back on "generics!").

We toss a lot of botanical materials (ie; "bioload") into our aquairums, all of which break down and require a bacterial population to "process" it. Why not have some chemical filtration as an "insurance policy" to remove some potential excess organics and such which will place a substantial burden on the bacterial population?

Yeah, they might remove some of the visual tint, but they will remove a lot less of it if you don't use the recommended "dose" per gallon. And frankly, I've never done a serious test to see exactly how much of what various chemical filtration media actually remove from the water. Being honest here...I'll bet not too many of you have, either, right?

So, we're kind of relying on the manufacturer's instructions and good old observation. Don't worry about the "tint" these materials will remove if used in moderation. Trust me, the water in most of my tanks is pretty damn dark, despite full-time utilization of these media!

If you're getting a sort of feeling that this is hardly a scientific, highly-choreographed, one-size-fits-all process....you're totally right. It's really a matter of (as the great hobbyist/author John Tullock once wrote) "Test and tweak." In other words, see what the hell is going on before making adjustments. Logical and time-tested aquarium procedure for ANY type of tank!

Now, the interesting thing that I've always found with my botanical-style, blackwater aquariums is that they tend to find their own "equilibrium" of sorts- a stable "operating range" that, once you find yourself doing the same procedures (i.e.; regular, consistent water exchanges, additions of botanicals, and media replacement, etc.) at regular intervals, tends to remain highly consistent as long as you keep them up.

I've talked repeatedly about the (IMHO mostly unwarranted) fears people have about precipitous pH "drops" and "crashes" and such, and I believe that most or all of these things are mitigated by consistency, patience, taking small steps, testing regularly, documenting and repeating them.

I've said it before an I will repeat it once again: I believe that pretty much every one of the "anomalous" pH "crashes"/disasters I've heard of in regards to blackwater, botanical-style tanks has been directly attributable to "operator error"- i.e.; failing to be consistent, diligent, and conservative. Tanks simply don't "crash" by themselves, in my experience.

They fail as a result of something we did or did not do: Failure to slow down. Failure to measure. Failure to observe or continue to follow procedures that have been giving us consistently good results. In my experience, tanks will typically show "signs", develop trends, and demonstrate the manifestations of "issues" gradually...if you're attuned to them.

Botanical-style blackwater aquariums are not "set and forget" systems, exactly like reef aquariums, planted "high tech" tanks, Mbuna systems, Discus tanks, etc. You need to observe and "pivot" as situations dictate. A sort of "yin and yang", if you will, between pushing the limits and playing it safe... And you have to ask yourself if this type of "active tank management" lifestyle is for you!

Failure to move thoughtfully, slowly, and deliberately, testing and tweaking along the way, along with time-tested, common sense application of aquarium management technique can result in you killing every fish in your aquarium.

That's reality.

So, don't be stupid or lazy and you'll be fine.

Okay, you're getting that idea!

The second question-the one about "taking the time to do it slowly"-is to me- more interesting..in fact, it's, as we say here in America- "The whole ball game.."(they probably say that in every country, too, but hey...).

Patience. Observation. Time.

Essential "ingredients" in the botanical-style blackwater aquarium game.

One fact:

It goes without saying that, if you've been keeping your fishes (even ones which come from blackwater conditions in Nature) in harder, more alkaline water, there will need to be a gradual transition to this type of environment. It goes without saying that rapid environmental changes are potentially harmful to many fishes.

Now, in the bigger picture, I am of the opinion that even, for example, Tetras or other fishes that may have been bred commercially in "tap water" conditions (not necessarily soft and acidic) for the past few decades still could benefit from being "repatriated" into more natural conditions.

However, you're still putting them through an environmental change, and this requires time.

Where do you begin?

Well, you start by seeing where you are. "Getting your bearings", so to speak.

I'd start by doing a sort of "baseline assessment" of the pH and alkalinity of my water. Digital meters are a great investment that will make accurate monitoring of your water very easy and economical. You should also give some thought about what your target pH/alkalnity are. If you're using tap water with a pH of 8.2 and considerable carbonate hardness, for example, you need to consider how you might bring these measurements down.

And you should, in my opinion, be willing to make the "infrastructure investment" (pricy though it may be) in a reverse osmosis/dioinization unit...or at least, finding a source of good, consistent RO/DI water (many fish stores will sell you RO/DI by the gallon/litre!). The rationale here is that it's far, far easier to reduce the pH in water with little or no carbonate hardness...it's more "malleable"- a better "canvas" upon which to work.

If you aren't using RO/DI water in your current setup, you can even start gradually mixing some in (without adjusting it or adding anything) with your regular water exchanges. Arguably, this may help to gradually lower the carbonate hardness and pH. Yet, it's going to take a long time. Ultimately, the idea is to replace all of the water in the tank with RO/DI. Patience is essential. Slow steps. If you can get your water to around neutral (7.0), that's a great "stepping off point" for modifications to lower pH levels.

Oh, there are other considerations- like substrate. If you're using a substrate which has considerable "buffering" capability, than it's likely that you'll either need to replace it, or accept the fact that you will likely not achieve "soft, acidic" conditions.

Now, speaking of pH- I wouldn't "shoot for the stars" and try to get to 5.5 or something really low right out of the blocks. For that matter, I wouldn't obsess over ANY specific "target number", really...Rather, I'd try to find a tight range that you could easily maintain. With the understanding that you need to do this over a period of weeks- even months...I'd shoot for a modest pH level of like 6.7-6.5 as your target range...Get a feel or operating a tank under these conditions and maintaining them consistently.

Once you've got a sort of "handle" on the pH and alkalinity, and have gotten them "in range", you can begin the (slow) process of "fine tuning" your habitat. Now, you might be (as I often am) surprised to find that botanicals and leaves, while impactful somewhat on pH, will drop levels much more slowly, and to a lesser extent than you might think. And if you have harder, alkaline water, the impact will be even more minimal or even undetectable.

As we've mentioned many times, the impact on carbonate hardness from botanicals and leaves is essentially nothing. They won't accomplish "softening" of water- a myth that's been erroneously ascribed to them for decades. A study of basic water chemistry will bury this myth once and for all.

You simply need to utilize other methods to reduce KH (like the aforementioned use of RO/DI water) before even starting to add the botanicals and leaves, if your goal is to reduce pH in the system with them.

The other, probably insultingly obvious thing to be aware of is that, even if the water looks dark brown, it's not necessarily 6.3 and zero KH. I mean, tannins will stain water in the absence of chemical filtration media to remove them. They may not significantly impact the pH, as mentioned above, but you'll get that "visual tint."

And I know many hobbyists who are perfectly happy with that.

And let's talk about the idea of tannins and humic substances for a second. We know that they are released into the water as a result of steeping botanical materials. And yes, there are commercial test kits to measure tannin levels (usually used in winemaking and such). They will give mg/l readings, which are, unfortunately, of no real use to hobbyists at the present time.

Why?

Because we simply don't have baseline information which hobbyists can interpret about tannin levels and/or humic substances in natural habitats, nor an analysis of which of the hundreds and hundreds of tannins and humic substances are typically found in most blackwater habitats.

At this time, we simply have to go with the understanding that these compounds ARE found in natural blackwater aquatic habitats at varying concentrations and combinations. Until further research is completed, interpreted and analyzed, we unfortunately simply have to "trust" this stuff! Yet another reason to study the wild aquatic habitats of the world even more closely.

I am also not aware of any studies done on the health impact to tropical fishes of tannins and humic substances in harder, alkaline environments versus soft, acidic ones, so it's sort of an open topic, really.

Not exactly 100% definitive, completely confidence-building stuff, right? I mean, we know that these things are there. We know they're important, but we don't know a whole lot more at this point- at least, not hobby-wise.

And that's not only the challenge- but (in my opinion) the appeal- of this aquarium specialty. We all have an opportunity to contribute to the state of the art. To increase our body of knowledge of how these systems operate. To unlock the manifold benefits- and potential pitfalls- of botanical-style aquarium "practice."

It's not for everyone. Not everyone likes the look. Not everyone likes the work and effort required. And the lack of a "recipe" or complete "step-by-step-guaranteed-to-work-every-time" thing is daunting to some.

We're still at the phase when what we do is as much of an "art" as it is a "science." Now, that's not a bad thing, mind you. Just something we need to take into account as we persue our work.

We at Tannin have begun developing a whole suite of specialized products designed to compliment the botanical-style aquarium and add some degree of predictability to the game...Yet there is so much more to do.

There is no "dial-a-river" solution just yet...And frankly, I'm kind of glad. The fun is in the experimentation. The journey. The discovery...

I suppose that this piece probably didn't answer all of your questions. Rather, I'll bet that it opened up quite a few more, spurring you to do more research before starting a blackwater, botanical-style aquarium...That's never a bad thing!

Stay excited. Stay careful. Stay experimental. Stay diligent. Stay skeptical. Stay hopeful. Stay creative. Stay enthralled ..

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics