The Tint

To discard...or not to discard? That is the question.

Today's topic was inspired by an email from a customer...and yes, my title, horrible as it may sound, definitely reeks of a poor attempt to pay homage to Shakespeare...

Nonetheless, this is one of those topics that we as "tinters" are all over the map on. One that. to the rest of the world is ridiculous...and proof that we are into really obscure stuff...perhaps pointless to some; downright important to US! 

What do you do with the "prep water" after you've boiled or soaked your leaves and botanicals?

We receive a lot of questions about this topic, and I always answer this honestly, based on my personal practices over the deuces with leaves and botanicals:

I use it to water the garden. 

Yes, I don't use the "tannin tea" as a sort of home-brewed "blackwater extract" in my aquariums. Why, you ask? Well, here is my "theory"- and it's really a theory, I admit...I have no rigid scientific study to back it up:

Although most of our botanicals are fairly clean when we receive them from our suppliers, You need to remember that they are natural dried materials which fall from trees, etc. As such, they may contain in their surface tissues atmospheric pollutants and dust, etc. from laying on the forest floor or in the facilities of our suppliers, etc.. Is this stuff "toxic" in some way? Unlikely, I suppose. However, it's on or in the surface tissues of the botanicals and leaves, right? At the very least, we always say to rinse stuff before you add it, and then boil or soak. (Oh, the 'just add the leaves to your aquarium without boiling" thing is something I've played with a lot over the years," just because"- and I admit I've never had a single problem.)

The main reason we boil is to break down some of the surface tissues of the leaves and botanicals, to make them more likely to absorb water and sink. And of course, during this process, any impurities bound up within them are released as well.

So, my theory is that your 'tea" consists of a lot of good stuff- like tannins, humic substances, etc from the surface layers of the botanicals or leaves, AND whatever pollutants (dirt, etc. as mentioned above) that were present in these tissues as well. DO you want to add this stuff to your tank? I personally don't. Or, should I say, I personally don't want to take the chance of adding concentrated dirt to my tanks.

Now, that's the old reefer in me...Cautious in many ways, reckless in others. I remember lots of stupid "post conference" chats with reefers until crazy hours of the morning. We'd always have discussions about the effluent from our protein skimmers...Some reefers tune their skimmers to remove dark, nasty "skimmate"; others run it "wet" and almost clear. Both sides claim they're removing "undesirable stuff" from their tanks. So we'd ask each other- would YOU add the "skimmate" to your tank? And the answer from all sides was always a resounding "Hell no!"

So, that's my mindset in a nutshell. It's less about an actual "detected risk" as it is about engaging in a practice that, to me, seems like your just adding some concentrated pollutants to your tank along with the desirable stuff. Trying to eliminate a possible cause of pollutants from going into my tanks. Yeah, and I know the usual response is, "Well, you're wasting a lot of the tannins when you dump out the prep water into the garden..."

My response? Well, if you follow my advice and dispose of the water, and then add them into some fresh water for a little "post boil soak"- see how quickly the water tints up like 90% of the time. IMHO, you're NOT wasting much tint-producing tannins at all.

Yet, we still go back and forth on this. 

I suppose there is no real "right or wrong" answer to the topic, exasperating though this may seem. It's really a matter of personal comfort, preference, and...habit. One could argue both sides effectively...one of the better ones I heard was that when you boil stuff (and water boils at 212F/100C), you're wiping out most bacteria and possibly breaking down most pollutants...so why would this stuff be problematic at this point. Okay, my "C" average in chemistry becomes glaringly obvious at this point! My response? I don't have one!

I still just "go with my gut" on this one, and, by the way- our gardens have never looked better, lol.

What's your take on this...?

Stay consistent. Stay bold. Stay curious...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics

Don't ruin this...

I talk to a lot of hobbyists in the course of my business and at just fun hobby events who sometimes lose their way at times in this game we call the aquarium hobby.

They stop enjoying the hobby, feel bad about their failures, or even what they feel is the insignificance of their successes..and then things get...well, ruined.

Things get ruined for a lot of reasons, I think.

Things get ruined when we allow others to dictate how we feel. When we let them get inside our head. When their values, style, opinion overshadows our own. Things get ruined when we lose our focus on what matters to us.

Things get ruined when we are not ourselves. When we don’t follow our dreams, our intuition…or heed that little voice inside that says, “Don’t get that fish!”

Things get ruined when we lose our way, deviate significantly from our plan, especially when it was working, starting to work, or showed great promise of working. Things really get ruined when we give up too soon. 

Things get ruined when we do too many things; when we don’t keep it simple. When we build in needless layers of complexity and procedure. And of course, things get ruined when we don’t follow our own procedures…or worse, when we follow the procedures laid out by others which don’t really work for our system.

Things get ruined when we blame ourselves for everything that goes wrong in our systems. Sometimes, things just go south because we’re dealing with living creatures and a whole lot of variables.

On the other hand, things get ruined when we are arrogant, selfish, and carry ourselves with an air of hubris, demeaning others and their efforts and accomplishments simply because we can’t feel good about ourselves.

Don’t be that hobbyist.

Things get ruined because we’re always looking for "the next big thing." The shortcut. The sage advice. Things get ruined because we think everyone else has it all figured out and that we need to do it the same way, just "because."

Most important, things get ruined because we lose our passion- our motivation, our love for the whole thing…The very force that drove us into this hobby to begin with. Without passion, all you have is an expensive, soulless, imitative pile of equipment and life, aggregated together...with audacity, for the purpose of pleasing…whom?

Things to ponder when you hit a rough spot in the hobby…or in life, I suppose.

Don’t let “them” tell you what’s cool. Don’t let others dictate how you feel about your hobby. Don’t overcomplicate stuff. Don’t beat yourself up when stuff goes wrong. 

Don’t lose your passion.

Don't ruin this. There's no need to.

Stay true to yourself. Stay bold. Stay creative. Stay engaged...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics

Revisiting the idea of "functional aesthetics" yet again...helping to bridge the "tint gap..."

As we establish our blackwater/botanical-style aquariums, it's really fun to see the incredible diversity of approaches that everyone takes towards creating something cool. I mean, one would think that to use botanicals, you just "prep 'em and plop 'em" in the tank, and that's it!. Well, as we both know, there's a lot more to it than that!

I suppose that we can look at the use of botanicals in our aquariums from two approaches, really:

*Purely aesthetic

*Purely functional

That sounds right; however, I think that the two go hand in hand.

Huh?

In the case of botanicals, you can't ever lose sight of the fact that you're adding a piece of natural material into your closed ecosystem. These materials WILL impact water chemistry, biological activity...oh, and the "structure" of your aquascape.

I have coined (well, I like to arrogantly THINK that I coined it-perhpas I simply appropriated it...) the term "functional aesthetics" to describe this dichotomy. That is: This stuff gives your tank a certain look (in terms of visual "hardscape" and the color it imparts to the water), while impacting the TDS, pH, etc.

And this idea is not really new, in terms of tangible affects of adding "stuff" to our tanks. I mean, every time we add a piece of wood to our aquarium, there is some leaching of tannins and other compounds into the water. Lover's of "crystal-clear, blue-white water" may do everything in their power to neutralize the impact immediately via activated carbon or other chemical filtration media, but the fact is, there is an impact caused by these materials.

In our instance, we've made the conscious decision to embrace what nature offers up and "accept" the tinted water, impact on pH and possibly the nutrient load imparted by these materials. This is where we part ways, so to speak, with our "clearwater" (urggh, that term is ridiculous, iMHO) friends and chart our own course. 

When I have occasion to explain our "botanical-style" to a hobbyist not familiar with the practice, especially one who is devoted to that "blue-white look", they're with me right up until the part where I describe the impact these materials have on the color of the water. It's an aesthetic that many simply cannot get past. And I get that. And the idea of a jumble of decomposing seed pods, bark, and leaves, often covered in biofilm, is simply not everyone's idea of a good-looking aquarium.

You can show some aquarists hours of underwater footage of Amazonian igapo flooded forests, Asian peat bogs, and African rain forest streams, which our tanks closely resemble, and they still won't be able to get over the "fantasy diorama aesthetic" that's been perpetuated as the most "natural-looking" aquarium for a couple of decades now. Again, I can't fault them at all. Many of those tanks that are the darlings of the aquascape world are artistic masterpieces. However, they bare as much resemblance to a wild habitat as a potted plant does to a rain forest, IMHO. I don't hate on the wonderful work or aesthetics of these tanks at all. I just strongly disagree with the public perception (and the attitude I sense from some corners) that these 'scapes are the ultimate statement of "natural aquascaping." And some of the downright nasty exchanges I've had with some people from this "world"  over the past few years calling what we do "reckless", "undisciplined", and "aesthetically lacking" makes me realize we're doing exactly the right thing here!

There are many possible "ultimate statements" in aquascaping. Look at many of the wonderful, painstakingly-researched and brilliantly-executed aquariums from the Biotope Aquarium Design Contest. Again, perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, yet these are some of the most incredible, natural-looking aquariums you're ever likely to encounter. 

To me, the idea of "functional aesthetics" is every bit as appealing as any scape concept out there. And when you see the work by aquascaping masters like Johnny Ciotti, Cory Hopkins, or Jeff Senske- aquascapers which can hold their own with anyone on the planet- you'd have a hard time disagreeing. Each one of these guys has embraced the use of botanicals in their own way, forging their own interpretation of "functional aesthetics." It's pretty cool!

What is increasingly exciting and interesting to me is to see more and more of you playing with planted blackwater aquariums. Not only are you simply "going for it", and trying regardless of "what they say"- you're learning exactly what the impacts of blackwater environments are on the growth of some of our favorite aquatic plants. Really good stuff. And work that is serving to bridge the gap between two worlds of aquascaping!

We're seeing more and more of this type of crossover work, and I think it's doing more than just making a statement or inspiring others. It's helping open up minds, opinions, and call some attention to the unique wild habitats of our aquarium fishes- some of which face grave threats from man's interventions. This is perhaps the ultimate benefit of embracing the idea of more naturally-functioning and appearing aquariums- biotope and otherwise.

Rather than inspiring hobbyists to simply mimic other people's tanks, they help call attention to the natural habitats themselves, and encourage aquarists to find out more about them; how they work, what is happening in them, etc. And if that encourages some people to set up a botanical-style aquarium-despite their initial "aversion" to the "unconventional" aesthetic- it's a victory not only for the hobby- but for nature as well.

If we are honest with ourselves, and aren't afraid to tel things like they are, I think that hobbyists worldwide can really unite and share ideas and respect from a wide range of different approaches. Reaching out across the "tint gap" with a mangrove branch, Savu Pod, or whatever (metaphorically AND literally, lol) can go a long way towards opening up minds and helping embrace the talent, knowledge, and work ethic that exists in the aquarium world. Being open-minded to many aspects of the aquatic world builds better hobbyists, a better hobby- and calls greater and greater attention to the precious natural aquatic habitats of our planet.

Comprehending the idea of "functional aesthetics" a good start. And, in reality, it's really just the jumping off point on a journey that will forever continue. And we're all better off if we take that journey together. 

Reach out to a friend who might be a bit close minded, unfamiliar with, or otherwise put off by our style and interpretation of nature. Share with him our her the concepts, challenges, and ideas we work with. Understand his/her perception of aquascaping and aesthetic. Share the idea of "functional aesthetics" with a seemingly close-minded friend.

Find common ground. 

And grow.

Stay bold. Stay unique. Stay adventurous. Stay humble. Stay open-minded...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

Flexing our hobbyist muscles...

Occasionally, I feel like the "Oprah" of the aquarium keeping world, and am compelled to dispense quasi-nonsensical advice to you with an air of seemingly undisputed authority...Today is such a day, and you'll have to indulge me with this one. Tomorrow we can talk about Barb care, prepping leaves, cleaning your canister filter, or something far more practical. 

I was thinking that, as fish geeks, we engage in a lot of everyday "rituals" and such that make us better, stronger, more intelligent hobbyists. However, occasionally, we lose our way and are looking for a track to run on, some ideas to deploy. In that vein, I give you ten compelling ways to become more empowered as a hobbyist each and every day. As usual, you can, and should contribute to this list. It's getting close to Winter, and besides being about holidays, to me, it's about change, and joy ..So, lets see if we can invigorate your hobby experience with this stuff...Here goes:


Make a “To Do” list of weekly aquarium tasks and follow it- Yeah, seems simple, right? However, if you make an easy to follow list of tasks- and actually get to a few of them throughout the week, not only will you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment about having gotten them done, you’ll see great results in your tanks! And, you’ll be able to really ascertain what is necessary for YOUR systems from what “the books” tell you to do. It will create a more personalized, effective aquarium keeping “practice” for you, trust me. You'll know that the things that you are doing with your tanks are correct for them...a truly "customized" experience, as it should be.

Collate inspiration- If you’re trying to create the most unique display ever, you’ll probably need a bit of inspiration! So, why not scour the ‘net for cool inspiration in the form of pics, article, etc., and collate it all in one place for easy reference? You can organize by categories, such as aquascaping, inspirational tanks, natural habitat shots, corals, articles on fish care, etc. OMG- I think I’m describing Pinterest! Well, bottom line is that this site seems the least nonsensical of the “social media” to me, simply because you’re just collecting stuff and putting it in one place for reference, although I’m sure that there must be some lame feature that makes this site annoying. You could just make a folder on your desktop and store downloads and pics there…good enough. So, put those inspiring ideas somewhere useful, ok?





Check out your tank early in the morning- Like I really have to tell you this? Well, yeah, I should at least remind you to do this. In our daily lives, we tend to cram so much stuff into our days that it can get too hectic to check out our reefs the way they should be. Often times, looking at your reef first thing, before the lights come on, can yield some information and valuable clues about the direction of your tank. You’ll see creatures that you won’t see when the lights are on. You’ll be able to inspect plants, rocks, and other internal features of the tank without fishes swimming all over and plants fully open, giving you a better opportunity to evaluate flow, noise levels, and other attributes of your tank that become utterly lost when everything is up and running. Plus, if you do discover a problem, you have a chance to get it BEFORE you head out for the day. WARNING: I’ve started my day this way, working on a “quick tweak” to my aquascape or whatever, and ended up calling in sick, spending the whole day re-scaping the tank. Yup.

And you have, too.





Try feeding your fishes something new- Yeah, the old cliche about variety being the spice of life is extremely applicable to aquarium husbandry. Trying new foods is important for several reasons. First, you will get a chance to evaluate the acceptability and usefulness of various brands. Trying different foods does simulate a natural environment a bit more closely, in that, on any given day, fishes will “find what they find” in nature, depending on numerous factors. So, you could argue that selecting a variety of new foods creates a more natural situation for fishes. Besides, there are certain foods out there that contain more protein, more substances that stimulate better color in fishes, disease recovery, etc. And, when you’re “weaning” new arrivals into their new life in captivity, it’s important to try as many foods as possible to stimulate feeding.

Take notes- Yup, paper and pen, or Ipad and finger, are some of the greatest inventions ever for aquarium keepers! Record your daily tank observations. Not only is it useful, as it can help you establish a “baseline” of your tanks normal operations, animal behaviors, and overall status, it will help you look back on what is “normal” for your system, so that one day, when something isn’t looking right, you’ll be able to turn to your notes and realize that the big Cryptocoryne was NOT extending its leaves every time you dosed _______, or that colors in your fishes usually intensified three days after you changed out the catappa leaves, or whatever. Useful stuff. And, you might just be able to accumulate enough material to write a blog or article- or even a book, to really help other fish geeks! Yeah…

Study- What? No, really- take a few minutes every day to study some aspect of aquarium keeping. Whether it’s water chemistry, fish compatibility, how a solenoid valve works, or how to feed Discus, you’ll become a better hobbyist simply by knowing more. Not only will you learn some things that can help you acquire more knowledge and skill, you’ll be in a better position to help others. If you see that “everyone” is preaching about doing a certain thing one way, and you’re actually getting crazy good results by doing just the contrary, shouldn’t everyone know about it? Yeah, studying and sharing are totally fundamental practices that will help propel you- and the hobby- further!




Ask a question- Yup, you heard me. Go on a forum, blog, website, etc., and ask a question about a topic that has you baffled. Not only will you find that other reefers probably are just as confused as you are about the same topic, you’ll probably end up making some friends in the process. Whaoh, wait a second…I know, I know, you’re thinking “Fellman is asking me to make friends with other fish geeks and sing songs around the campfire…sheesh.” No, you still have my permission to be antisocial and avoid being pals with everyone- don’t worry. What I am suggesting is that you might find a few hobbyists who have a common interest, and whom you can occasionally run by a question or idea for comment. You can still engage in antisocial, curmudgeonly behavior in other aspects of your aquarium life, not to worry.

Eat in front of your tank- I dare you. You need to prove to yourself- and your family- that you can engage in “normal” life activities while enjoying your aquarium. You know, like talking to your spouse and children. The real trick is to enjoy your deep discussion (and grilled chicken breast with balsamic reduction and steamed baby Bok Choy) WITHOUT reaching for the tank tongs or adjusting the lighting intensity on your LEDs, or some other “necessary” task. Can you do it? If you can, you’ll really be proving to your family that an aquarium can ENHANCE your lifestyle, not take it over. See if you’re up to the challenge.

Stuff your face...and interact with family, too.. In front of the aquarium...Woah! crazy concept.

Share a pic- Even if you’re no professional photographer, a picture is truly worth a thousand words, or some nonsense like that. If we accept what all of the self-appointed social media “experts” that have emerged from every nook and cranny tell us, sharing is super easy and will help us in other areas of our lives. We’re not talking about taking “selfies” of you and your favorite Apsito. That’s just weird. However, everyone likes seeing a good FTS. Besides, these same “experts” tell us that people can only absorb 140 characters of information (apparently, human culture and the brain have devolved to this point in the last decade), so just blow off “Twitter” and post a pic of your fave fish instead. Let others enjoy and comment on it. Feel involved and cool. For extra credit, you could write things like “#awesome betta” or “#mytank is the bomb” or other ridiculous, “searchable” crap with your pic that will help more people find it. No, actually- that’s stupid.

Just put up a freaking pic and be done with the whole project. I’m just sayin’…

Visit the LFS and spend some money there- Yeah, you heard me. The LFS is the coolest institution in the hobby. Cooler than online vendors, way cooler than forums. You can actually support a business that you can touch, see, feel, smell. You can support a hobby institution that has tangible, broad-reaching impact. When you support a local fish store, not only are you getting the “instant gratification” that the inter webs cannot provide, you’re helping foster the very culture of aquarium keeping. The LFS is the aquarium equivalent of the “watering hole” on the African Serengeti Plain, sans predators, drought, and Water Buffalo stampedes. It’s a place to get inspired, see something new, try out products that you’ve never seen before, and to interact on a real, tangible level with other members of the “tribe.” Long live the LFS!

(Image by Swanepole, used under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Okay, so this was a bit esoteric today, but I think you get the idea. Each day is a chance to try something new that can help you become a more “empowered” hobbyist, engaged, enlightened, and invigorated. If you’ve noticed, a lot of my suggestions involve not only interacting with your tank, but interacting with other hobbyists. It’s important, meaningful, and will serve to make you a better, more well-rounded aquarist. Sharing and exchanging ideas has never been easier, and it’s a vital part of perpetuating and enhancing our awesome hobby. So, despite my constant reminders to boycott most of the ludicrous “social media” nonsense  it’s never a bad idea to reach out to a fellow fish geek now and again. 

In the end, the hobby is about more than just keeping plans and fishes, and playing with expensive equipment. It’s about building skills, relationships, and contributing to a body of knowledge that is larger than ourselves.

Like everything I throw up here, I’m open to suggestions, so let’s hear your ideas for becoming a more empowered, powerful hobbyist..

As always, enjoy your day, your hobby, and each other.

Stay sensible. Stay open-minded. Stay calm. Stay engaged...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics

Tannin Aquatics

Getting to where we are...understanding where we've been.

If you've been in the hobby long enough, you start noticing how things truly evolve over the years, and how easily we get comfortable doing stuff that, less than a decade before was considered "risky", "non-sustainable", or downright dangerous. I think so much of it starts with making mental shifts and appreciating the challenges associated with doing stuff slightly different than we have in the past. In other words- simply trying. It seems like there is a certain audacity to doing stuff fundamentally differently than we have in the past; call it what you will- but it's that simple. 

I was chatting with a fellow hobbyist the other day and we were sort of looking where we are as a hobby, and how our little speciality niche has started to catch the eye of more and more "manstream" adherents in the aquarium hobby. And more important- more and more hobbyists are letting go of thinking which has helped maintain a certain "status quo" for far too long, in my opinion.

Consider the fact that, for years, playing with blackwater, lower pH, and decomposing botanical materials was considered an extremely risky, irresponsible, and non-viable approach to keeping aquariums by many. It still is, in many corners...yet more and more hobbyists are playing with this concept, and enjoying and sharing long-term, replicable successes. The reality is that many hobbyists were playing with this stuff for years, it's just that we were quietly experimenting with this stuff in the dark corners of our fish rooms. Now, we're getting just a bit louder...

Blackwater aquariums have moved out of the "side show" category and are now simply another way to maintain an aquarium. Thanks to the work, experimentation, and sharing of this community, what was once feared is now compelling to many. We still have a long way to go. And quite honestly, a lot of people simply don't like the look. I understand that.  And I am convinced that this "genre" of aquarium-keeping will always be as much of an "art" as it is a "science"- and that's okay, too. We're literally developing the framework for creating, operating, and managing lower pH, botanical-style blackwater systems as we speak. 

Call it "open-source", "ground-floor," "bleeding edge"- whatever you label it, the opportunity for a wide variety of interested hobbyists at all levels to contribute to a body of work has never been better! I think we'll see more and more commercial developments in this area as time goes by, too. Doors have been opened, as they say.

And, we've actually started to have some of our work "trickle down" into another unique aquarium niche...brackish water.

It's truly cool seeing more and more hobbyists embracing and experimenting with our vision of a botanical-style brackish aquarium. I'd like to think that the "body of work" that we as a community have developed with the blackwater, botanical-style tanks has given us the understanding and confidence that we nee to move forward into this different arena.

After addressing century-old concerns about the idea of adding materials that break down into our aquariums, and showing not only good short-term success, but solid long-term results, including fish health, spawnings, and environmental stability in blackwater, it looks like the validity of a more realistic interpretation of a brackish water environment can be tested with far less trepidation.

The backbone- literally- of our brackish-water vision is the use of mangrove materials, namely, mangrove branches and leaf litter. These materials will function just like the many types of aquascaping woods and leaves which we have now become accustomed to in our blackwater "practice." And of course, rich substrates, featuring a mix of clays, muds, soils, and sands. It's that idea of "functional aesthetics" again. For some reason, we haven't played with them much before. These materials look appropriate for the habitat we're trying to replicate because they come from the habitat we're trying to replicate. 

We are finally starting to eschew the sterile-looking, white-sand-and-mineral-rock" aesthetic interpretation of brackish water habitats that's been the "standard" for years, and looking at the actual natural habitats themselves for inspiration. Sort of "meeting them where they are" and understanding that the pristine-looking vision we've had for decades simply is not how these habitats typically look...and the function of them is directly influenced by the way they look when we cast aside our preconceived notions and embrace how they do look and operate. (Oh, and our "traditional" interpretation of brackish habitats looked kind of...boring, if you ask me...)

One interesting advantage of playing with brackish tanks is that we have access to a  tremendous amount of valuable "crossover" information about keeping and managing marine animals, thanks to several decades of reef keeping work.  Much of this translates quite well into brackish water aquarium keeping. Materials as basic as salt mixes areas rigidly formulated nowadays that we scarcely have to consider which brand to use. And technology like lighting and filtration are now so good that we can almost take them for granted. Almost.

As a hobby, we are becoming more and more progressive, I think. Sure, there are lots of little pockets of resistance to change, holding on to set ways, interpretations, and styles, but you're seeing more and more individual hobbyists breaking away from the "groupthink" and simply doing stuff. Looking at things fro ma fresh perspective, experimenting...and generally not giving a damn about what "everyone" thinks. Scary, daring- yet empowering. It's how breakthroughs arise in the hobby.

Now, I'm not trying to say that we are awesome and everyone else is some kind of throwback loser...Absolutely not.  We're not the only arena in the hobby that's pushing things in different directions. What I AM saying is that we are a good example of a small community of people who have demonstrated how far you can come quickly when you simply...do. This can work-has worked- in a number of aquarium hobby specialties, from cichlid breeding to Rainbowfish keeping, to aquatic plants and aquascaping. 

Mindset shifts are beautiful things, because they get us out of our comfort zones and compel us to look at where we were, where we are, how we got there, and where we are going next.

It's neat to look back- but far more interesting to look forward.

Keep striving. 

Stay daring. Stay diligent. Stay open-minded. Stay communicative. Stay creative...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

"The waiting game..." Natural analogs, processes, and savoring those little victories on the road to success...

One of the neat things about setting up a new aquarium is that, like it or not- you go through the time-honored traditions of stuff as mundane as washing sand, setting heaters and lights, cleaning and preparing wood and other hardscape materials, etc. You can't escape most of those tasks. Nor should you want to.

I mean, unless you're using "live" material from an existing tank or pond, you have to rinse sand...whatever technique you use, it's almost unavoidable. And that often creates lingering cloudiness that simply takes a bit of waiting to resolve. And then there is what I like to call "the settling period", also jokingly referred to by us patient types as the "calm before the storm"- that period of a few days when you let everything sort of "sit" for a but- allowing the water to clear, any bubbles to be mitigated, etc. I love this period of time, because it's the last point in my tank's existence that it's "sterile"- before we begin preparing the "biological" part of the system.

You know, getting the wood and stones positioned right, making sure that the basic water parameters (alkalinity, pH, TDS) are where you want them before you start seeding the system with bacteria, or whatever your technique is to make your tank "come alive." This is an exciting time to really make sure that things are running who you'd like them, that the basic hardscape is positioned how you think it should be, and that the system is running reliably. It's a very exciting time. And, when viewed with the correct mindset, it's as gratifying, fascinating, and enjoyable as any other period of time in the life of your tank.

I'm in this period right now in my new home blackwater aquarium, and I promised to you that I'd document the process in my own esoteric way...

And I find myself viewing this time as a real chance to "get things right"- that time to deploy a lot of patience and ask myself those honest questions, like, "Is this EXACTY how you want those pieces of wood positioned?" or "Do you want to use those rocks in those positions?" Like, I hate "editing" my hardscape as I go, so to me, once I start "going biological" with a tank, the "honeymoon" is over...Those pieces of wood and rock are staying in those exact positions until either I knock them out of position during maintenance (that never happens, right?) or I break down the tank. Yeah, I'm pretty hardcore about it! 

Of course, it's also a time when I tell myself, "Okay Fellman- no turning back..." Sort of like when an airplane is committed to takeoff...I guess I commit to a hardscape like I run my business: Conceive. Tweak. Execute. Manage. I think that it's a lot like how nature works...Well, sort of?  Once a tree falls, it typically moves very little, unless water movement or subsidence from the substrate alters how it's settled. And "stuff" (leaves, twigs, seed pods, etc.) accumulate around it, further "cementing" its position in the habitat.

Yes, I have a weird way of looking at stuff.

And I suppose that it's correct to acknowledge that, despite my labeling this period of time as a "sterile" period, it's really the first step of creating a biologically active system. I mean, wood contains all sorts of "stuff", including organic materials and probably even good old fashioned terrestrial "dirt", which fuels the growth of bacteria...despite our best efforts at "cleaning" or otherwise "preparing" it for aquarium use. And the tannins which wood often gives off once submerged?

I mean, that's like nature's little "gift" for the "tinter!"

While the rest of the aquarium world pouts, agonizes, and generally freaks the f--- out about "the tannins 'discoloring' my water"- we see this as one of the rare "hacks"- a gift from Mother Nature to help us speed up the process of getting that visual "tint" to our water that we love so much! (Don't believe me about how the rest of the hobby reacts to this? Search like any aquatic hobby forum and look at the frantic posts from hobbyists looking for anything to help remove this dreaded "scourge" of tint from their aquariums. I know, I shouldn't be so callous and unsympathetic to their "plight"- but if these heathens only knew what they were missing...

So, yeah. We take our victories where we can get them, right?

And we're patient. And determined. And we understand that a botanical-style blackwater or brackish aquarium truly must "evolve" and take time to begin to blossom into a functioning little ecosystem. And we enjoy each and every stage of the "startup" process for what it is: An analog to the processes which occur in the natural habitats we want so badly to emulate.  I think one of the mental "games" I've always played with myself during this process is to draw parallels between what I'm doing to prepare my tank and what happens in nature.

It kind of goes something like this: A tree falls in the (dry) forest. Wind and gravity determine it's initial resting place (you play around with positioning your wood pieces until you get 'em where you want, and in a position that holds!). Next, other materials, such as leaves and perhaps a few rocks become entrapped around the fallen tree or its branches (we set a few "anchor" pieces of hardscaping material into the tank). Then, the rain come; streams overflow, and the once-dry forest floor becomes inundated (we fill the aquarium with water).

The action of water and rain help set the final position of the tree/branches, and wash more materials into the area influenced by the tree (we place more pieces of botanicals, rocks, leaves, etc. into place). The area settles a bit, with occasional influxes of new water from the initial rainfall (we make water chemistry tweaks as needed). Fungi, bacteria, and insects begin to act upon the wood and botanicals which have collected in the water (kind of like what happens in our tanks, huh? Biofilms are beautiful...). Gradually, the first fishes begin to follow the food and populate the area (we add our first fish selections based on our stocking plan...). It continues from there. Get the picture? Sure, I could go on and on drawing parallels to every little nuance of tank startup, but I think you know where I'm going with this stuff...

And the thing we must deploy at all times in this process is patience. And an appreciation for each and every step in the process, and how it will influence the overall "tempo" and ultimate success of the aquarium we are creating. When we take the view that we are not just creating an aquatic display, but a habitat for a variety of aquatic life forms, we tend to look at it as much more of an evolving process than a step-by-step "procedure" for getting somewhere. Taking the time to consider, study, and savor each phase is such an amazing thing, and I'd like to think that as students of this most compelling aquarium hobby niche, that we can appreciate the evolution as much as the "finished product" (if there ever is such a thing in the aquarium world).

It all starts with an idea...and a little bit of a "waiting game..." and a belief in nature; a trust in the natural processes which have guided our planet and its life forms for eons. 

The appreciation of this process is a victory in and of itself, isn't it?

Stay excited. Stay enthralled. Stay observant. Stay appreciative...Stay patient...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman 

Tannin Aquatics 

Lessons from water...

The beauty of this hobby is that you can go in so many different directions- try so many different things, and always learn new stuff...And there are amazing things that your aquarium can teach you about life itself!

Seriously!

I woke up in a philosophical mode today, which, as you know, is often dangerous, as it means I'll either write about something insanely esoteric ("How the health of your Apistogramma  can affect your wife's clothes-buying decisions") or rather direct ("How to get superglue off of your fingers"), or downright devisive ("Why every other botanical vendor besides Tannin Aquatics is stupid and unprofessional...")... I mean, no one else in the aquarium world writes about the kind of nonsense I do, huh? Weird.

Fortunately, I did get a decent night's sleep, and I'm sitting on my Yoga mat ready to proffer my two cents worth on your life as a fish geek...

Cue relaxing New Age sitar music...

Today, Young Grasshopper, we're going to talk about how your aquarium experience can teach you about life...

Ok, that sounds kind of insane, actually.

Yet when you think about it, an aquarium CAN teach you a lot about life. Those little pearls of wisdom that we acquire as we play with our tanks can have real impact on the rest of our life.

Let's look at these "lessons" a bit closer, and if you don't agree- then you can tell me that I'm crazy!

Lesson One - Stay Focused - When building and managing your aquarium, you'll come to the realization that it's hard to balance what you need to be doing with what you have the time, energy, and resources to actually do. Sure, you should be changing water every week, but you have that little distraction called life that may get in the way. And that's okay. Your family and relationships are more important than your fish. Yup. I just said it. Don't lose focus on what's really important.

Focus on quality, not quantity in your tank management. Better to do a few things great than many things poorly. Seriously. Prioritize what needs attention more at certain times. Filtration? Algae scraping. Botanical replacement? Things will ebb and flow and you can tackle every single one of your fish-keeping dreams and ambitions. You just don't need to do them all at the same time!

Lesson Two- Practice Patience- I know that in my personal life, I'd hardly be given the moniker of "patient", but in my aquairum-keeping work, it's my mantra! It can take me months to go from having a tank in my home to having a tank in my home with plumbing, and months more to having a tank in my home with plumbing and water. Sure, like everyone else, I want a lush, colorful aquarium as quickly as possible. However, I found out the hard way through many years of aquarium keeping that the old cliche about not rushing things holds true. An aquarium is a biological system, and it follows eons-old natural patterns of function and process.

You can't rush it. Oh, sure, you can "seed" your aquarium with biological material to speed up the cycling process, and you can grow your plants a bit faster with frequent water changes, feeding, and trace element replenishment...But it can only go so fast. Why not follow those good practices, but expect- and enjoy- a slower, more measured pace of growth in your tank? Patience is about understanding what steps it's going to take to get you where you want to be, and measuring and evaluating your progress along the way. Editing is a beautiful thing (although, by the way I write, you'd never know that, huh?). Eventually, you'll get "there." And you'll probably find the journey every bit as enjoyable as the destination. Trust me.



Lesson Three- Be an Authentic Aquarist - Huh? What I'm getting at here is that you should love being who you are as a fish geek! Sounds like 'psychobabble", but it's true! Your greatest aquairum-keeping successes will come when you practice being the type of hobbyist you are. Just because everyone is infatuated with Places and you love wild Bettas does not mean that you're not a "cool" hobbyist.  Truest me, for years I was keeping "dirty-looking" brown tanks and facing lots of criticism and questions before people realized what was going on...There are so many angles to this hobby it isn't even funny. Love what you specialize in, and share what you know with fellow fish geeks.

If you have no interest- or worse yet- no clue- about fert dosing, for example- then don' get on the forums and start preaching the gospel of certain brands or techniques to fellow hobbyists. What I call "regurgitation"- the act of ranting authoritatively about stuff you may have heard of but have not practiced- is really unhelpful to the rest of the aquairum-keeping world. It's how lots of bad trends started. Be proud of your aquarium, your experience, and the type of hobbyist you are. Share selflessly, and play to your strengths. Push yourself, evolve, adapt, flow. But above all, be yourself.

Lesson Four- Count on Your "Peeps" - It's crucial to have other hobbyists to turn to when things get tough. Sure, you can be a free thinking aquarist, but don't go it alone. You're not an island. An atoll, maybe. But not an island. Err..nevermind. (bad fish geek humor) Reach out on the forums and consult other hobbyists. I think this Facebook thing might just work. Not only will you learn more and have a good time with your hobby- you might just end up making lifelong friends! Build relationships, and seek out friends, experts and even "cheerleaders" when you need them. It's a smarter, more effective way to succeed in the hobby. And, I must admit, it's kind of fun.

Join the local aquarium club, or start one if there isn't one in your area. Hang out at your local fish store. It's the literal "watering hole" for your local hobby experience. Not only will you be supporting a good cause (your local brick and mortar store), you'll be making valuable aquarium-keeping connections that will provide great pleasure. Of course, you can join one of the many friendly aquarium communities on line, and connect with fellow fish geeks all over the planet. Cultivating friendships is a great little investment in your hobby-and your life- that will pay huge dividends down the line.

Lesson Five- Learn to Stop - Apparently, Im not alone: Many fish geeks just never learned how to say "no" gracefully! This is evidenced by the many 120-gallon aquariums containing every conceivable type of fish and plant known to the hobby! This is a real problem with practical implications, as it can lead to an overcrowded, biologically mismatched  population at best, and total disaster at the worst! For that matter, more than one domestic relationship has been impacted by what my friend, reefer/author Tony Vargas aptly calls "The Spouse Factor." The solution is to excercise restraint. Just say NO sometimes!

It works with developing an aquarium in your home, and it works with stocking the aquarium, too...You can always get another aquarium at some point (the whole "Multiple Tank Syndrome" experience) if you want to try keeping widely divergent animals together without bloodshed. You just don't want to go down this path, adding every conceivable animal to your aquarium. If you're so busy saying "yes" to all of the wrong animals, when are you going to have the space for the right ones when they come along?

Lesson Six- Face Your Fears - Good heavens, get out of your comfort zone once in a while! I'm not saying to try to set up a 700 gallon aquarium just to prove that you're a bad-ass...What I am saying is that you should try something different from the tried-and true sometime. Keep that slightly-less-than-super-hardy Geophagus if you have the hunch that you can do it. Great things can happen when you push through the fear. Put your experience, intuition, and observational powers to the test. You might be the first person to breed that weird little brackish-water goby that you have a secret fetish about. You may be the one person that figured out how to keep that uber-delicate blackwater Cryptocoryne alive and thriving.

I'm not advising you to gamble with the life of a helpless animal in order to vanquish your fears. What I am suggesting is that you should play the occasional hunch and push yourself a bit. If it weren't for the brave folks like Jack Wattley, we would probably just now be realizing a viable market for commercially-bred Discus! If someone like Matt Wittenrich didn't take a chance trying to breed dozens of varieties of marine fish, we might be stuck with Clownfish as our only captive-bred marine fish option. If a guy like George Farmer didn't push himself to try all sorts of new aquascaping challenges, think of the inspiration we as a community would have not received...When you feel you are capable - take a chance. The benefits to you- and to the hobby- might be incalculable.

Lesson Seven- Lighten Up! - You heard me! Have some fun! This hobby is not supposed to be a peer-pressure-ridden pressure cooker with impossible-to-meet challenges and goals. You aren't "required" to have a perfect aquarium system that some self appointed "hobby demigod" would "approve" of. You don't need to be doing all of the same things that the guy in Holland with a 29,000 liter aquarium is doing. You don't, and you probably can't - so why sweat it? Jumping on the bandwagon just because "all of the kids are doing it" isn't really that cool, anyways. Trust me. Enjoy your aquarium, no matter what size, what type of animals you keep, and how it looks. Laugh at the fact that you get all worked up about little snails on your Madagascar Lace Plants, or that you keep stinky frozen foods in your freezer, right next to the Haagen-Dazs. Take pride in the fact that you are one of a select group of people that keep and breed some of nature's most amazing creatures alive outside of their natural habitat. Not only alive- but thriving! Craziness.

When you screw up- and you will - accept the consequences with grace and humor. Laugh about it. Share the mistakes and foibles with fellow reef geeks. You're probably not the only one who nuked his or her aquarium with plant food, or added two male Apistos by mistake, or who used the wrong-sized tubing and flooded his/her carpet.. so smile...That which doesn't kill our enthusiasm for the hobby makes us a better hobbyist. Perhaps less financially solvent- but better for the journey!

My hope here is that you realize that an aquarium is not just a pleasant diversion; a fun hobby- it can be a lifelong passion, a teaching tool for the entire family. And perhaps, most underrated of all - an aquarium can serve as a beautiful classroom for some of the larger mysteries of life. It sounds almost bizzare, but I believe it to be true when I say that "everything I needed to know about life, I learned from my aquairum." Ok, almost everything. I still haven't figured out exactly what makes women tick. And how to program my Apex controller, or how to flip pizza dough, or...

So, until next time. Lighten up!

Stay focused. Stay enthusiastic. Stay diligent. Stay creative. Stay happy..

And Stay Wet.


Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

The habitual fish geek...yeah, that's YOU!

A few weeks back, I gave a talk at a hobby club meeting in The Midwest, and the topic was Nutrient Control and Export.” I’ve given this talk at reef clubs around the nation many times before, as well as at the big MACNA conference, and I’m frequently surprised by how much hobbyists like it. Although we touched upon such seemingly basic aquarium husbandry issues, the talk (and ensuing dynamic discussion) made me once again realize that there is a definite “philosophy” to aquarium husbandry that seems to be shared among the most successful fish geeks that I know:

“Doing the correct things in small amounts regularly and repetitively.”

Simple words, but what do they mean to the successful aquarist? A whole lot, actually.

The key to ultimate long term success in the hobby is not just having the ultimate system and the latest, coolest equipment- it’s the effort that you put in as a hobbyist to provide your animals with the best possible care.

The interesting, common thread seems to be that most of the successful aquarists whom I know share that basic philosophy in one form or another. Instead of panicked, "knee-jerk" reactions to problems, like corals dying or water quality declining, they proactively avoid many of these issues by following a regular husbandry regimen. Typically, this consists of stuff like modest (like 5%-10%) weekly or slightly larger (20%) monthly water changes, daily observation of major life support systems, frequent cleaning/exchanges of chemical and mechanical filtration media, and regular, but not obsessive water chemistry tests.

This stuff is really basic, but I am frequently surprised, when brought in to troubleshoot an “anomalous” tank “crash” or other issue, of the seemingly complete lack of regular husbandry procedure in some instances. As the sayings goes, “Nothing good happens quickly in an aquarium.” More often than not, in my experience- neither do bad things! They happen (in a lot of cases) over time, and the cumulative effect is what causes the ultimate decline in many cases.

Algae problems, for example, aren’t typically caused by sudden, isolated events. Rather, they often have their roots in something simple, like bad feeding habits (just dumping cubes of food, packing juices and all) right into the tank in large quantities over time, failure to execute water changes with any degree of frequency, allowing filter socks and other mechanical media to become saturated with detritus or organics, or the hobbyist forgetting to change the membranes and on his/her RO unit (I can’t tell you how many times this has been the cause of gradual declines in water quality).

Sure, sometimes there is a rare case of a ‘toxic “batch of salt mix (in a reef tank), or a genuine, downright poisoning, but typically, many water quality (and therefore environmental quality) issues result from lack of consistency in our husbandry practices.

My point of this rant is not to beat you over the head with the basics, especially after yesterday's rant about stability- but it IS to imply yet again that a simple, consistent effort on your part will lead to greater system stability, animal health, and ultimately greater success as a hobbyist. It's been on my mind a lot lately, as we have many hobbyists new to the botanical-style, bIackwater aquarium "genre", and they're curious about husbandry with "all that stuff being added..."

I know we’ve been discussing how important it is NOT to obsess over squeaky clean aquariums, and that things don’t have to be fanatically-maintained…However, it IS important to simply develop good habits.  Just being habitual about good aquarium practice is enough, IMHO.

Force yourself to adopt good practices-most of us already do, but apply them in manageable tasks (many of us don’t- for example the “every 4-month water change” or “spring cleaning” of the tank). And do them often! It’s so much easier! A 5% weekly water change can make a huge difference in long term stability of your system. If you don’t believe me, give it a shot for a month and see if you notice a difference in your system…I’ll bet that you will. Oh, notice I said “stability”- not, “…will get your nitrate and phosphate to zero!” We’re not going there…LOL. We’re just talking about  fostering good habits.

So get up, look yourself in the mirror, and then look at your systems. Ask yourself if you are making the hobby easier for yourself by following a sporadic husbandry program, or making it harder. I’ll bet that, after adopting a more regular, frequent maintenance schedule, you’ll be asking yourself more “unusual” questions, like “Why did my Apistos spawn again?”, or “Man, I have to net out those Rainbowfish fry AGAIN?”

Good “problems” to have, huh? Think about it.

So tell us- what are the husbandry tasks that you do most consistently on your tanks? Which ones do you feel are the most useful and important?

Stay diligent. Stay consistent. Stay inspired...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

Your geeky bliss...

Seems like the longer we're around, the more insane it gets every week, which I love...I always said I'd never want to be "that guy" who is a hardcore hobbyist, then starts a company, and gets "too busy" to do the things he likes to do- like interacting with fellow fish geeks...Well, some days, I must admit, it feels like I've become "that guy..." I mean, there literally aren't enough hours in the day sometimes to do everything that I want.

Between setting up orders, taking orders, answering customer questions, Packaging, shipping, and all of the other minutiae of running a company, it CAN get a little hectic. I guess it's a good "problem" to have. But I think it's a problem nonetheless. Self-help gurus will tell you that not being able to do the things you want to do is a function of "poor time management" or "not being kind to yourself", or...whatever!

Anyways, I'm happy to be here to interact with you cool people- as YOU are what it's all about. In the mad frenzy of running a business, I always take time to acknowledge and celebrate the things that really make me love this hobby- an exercise we should all do from time to time. And one of the things I enjoy ruminating on is the fact that we as fish geeks are into the most obscure stuff!

Think about it. If you've entertained the idea of playing with, say, propagating Daphnia or Black Worms at scale- there's probably some hobbyist out there who's not only had the idea, but who's but out a propagation system just for that purpose in her basement! Want to grow riparium plants for your next paludarium? Create a freshwater botanical refugium for your next display? There are likely hobbyists who are "experts" on that. Creating a system for freshwater sponges? I'll wager that there might be half a dozen hobbyists worldwide earnestly working on that stuff as I write this!  I mean, there are so many cool things that you can do in the hobby, and so many cool resources at our disposal! Our "tribe" has insanely good knowledge of many, many things, ranging from the basic to the downright obscure.

That's totally cool.

Thanks to the internet and the general geekiness of hobbyists worldwide, this "obscure" stuff doesn't stay obscure that long. We talk, brag, share, assist, and just generally let the information we've gleaned percolate into our culture, which enriches us all. And it's fun to get into these seemingly "obscure" things, isn't it?

I mean, a lifelong obsession with blackwater, botanical-style aquariums was the direct line to the founding of Tannin aquatics. Taking something obscure, hyper-niche, yet personally obsessive, and creating a company (Hell, a category, for that matter!) around it to share it with the world is incredibly satisfying! Scratching your own "itch" often puts you in contact with a whole world of people who share the same interest- people you might have never met had you kept these ideas bottled up inside!

Stuff like that happens-so you need to DO when it comes to these things.

Now sometimes, your passions just sort of bubble under the surface for a while, waiting for the right time and situation in order to really take off. A personal case in point:

For decades, I had this sort of long-term "love affair" (sounds sordid, doesn't it?) with marine macroalage. I used to play with all different types, but just kinda ran out of time and resources to keep going. It was sort of on the "back burner" for a while, as the sayings goes...Yet it never left. You know how that goes, right? Well, moving forward a few years and I had a 16,000 gallon saltwater facility, Unique Corals, with all kinds of toys to play with!

So, when the opportunity came up to acquire some cool macroalgae from an awesome propagator and curate the collection I'd been dreaming of for over a decade, I jumped on it. So, much to the chagrin of some of my employees, on any given day you'd find me doling over my little section of one of our raceways, packed with little containers of macro algae of all sorts. In a edition to a geeky "cottage industry", it was just fun doing something that I sort of lost track of over the years...the fun and excitement of doing something that's interesting, "new", and  obsessive is a sublime delight for the fish geek!

Don't give up on your passions. Don't fight the urge to act on that idea! It could spur you on to more and more unique and exciting things.

You just don't know until you act...

Okay, so the point of all of this rambling is quite simple: If you have one of those geeky and obscure obsessions, indulge yourself and play! Do the geeky stuff to your heart's content...and remember to share your passion for it with other fish geeks. It's the kind of stuff that makes things really fun. The kind of stuff that makes a hobby more than just a "pleasant diversion"...It becomes a lifelong obsession- a rich and rewarding passion.

Find your geeky bliss.

Stay engaged. Stay obsessive. Stay humble. Stay generous. Stay patient...

And always, always...

Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

Starting from scratch...Again...

For the fish geek, there's nothing quite like the excitement of setting up a new aquarium, right?

So, my wife and I are settled into our new home...And that means setting up some new tanks! I'm about to set up my next aquarium; Yes, this one is at home- and inexplicably, I got the "green light" from my wife to set up one of the tanks in a well-trafficked room- and that means it needs to look really good. Of course, the term "really good" can take on many different meanings in my experience!  Oh, and given my propensity to create tanks with brown water, decomposing leaves, biofilms and the like, it also means that I'll be doing a considerable amount of explaining to visitors why this isn't the crystal-clear vision of perfection that they're used to when they hear the words "fish tank." 

Fun.

I do need to take care of one order of business before going on about this tank: I just want to let out a little early morning angst and state that I hate every single one of you who has mad aquascaping skills.  There. I said it. It's out. I know that jealousy is really ugly and all, but it feels good to be honest. :)

Now that the ugly stuff is off my chest- on to the good stuff.

I've decided to continue my love affair with the flooded Iagpo forests of Brazil, focusing on a "structurally functional" aquascape, anchored by a fairly solid hardscape, consisting of larger pieces of wood, arranged to replicate the branches and logs that would accumulate on a forest floor, perhaps pushed around a bit by flooding and currents.

I've resigned myself to a less "artful", more "natural" looking wood stack- as if I am really even capable of "artful", anyways. I mean, despite my best efforts at an "artful" approach over the years, my hardscape always seem to look sort of like a campfire, to be honest. An expensive campfire, of course...but a campfire, nonetheless!

(One of the earlier iterations of this umm, "scape.")

Like, why fight my lack of aesthetic talent? Use nature as an...excuse-er, inspiration!

So this time, I just kind of went with the flow, after scanning literally dozens of Mike Tuccinardi's. David Sobry's, and Ivan Mikolji's pics and videos of Amazonian underwater and above-water scenes. Tremendous inspiration there, especially when you look at the "macro view" and isolate some of the details, like how wood falls, substrate and leaves accumulate, and where fishes seem to hang out, in context.

Despite my aesthetic challenges, I've always taken comfort in the fact that my wood arrangements almost always seem to look better once they're submerged and part of a whole scene. In fact, I don't think I've ever owned an aquarium where the woodscape looked amazing before it was submerged...Wait, amend that statement: I don't think I've ever owned an aquarium with a woodscape that looked amazing prior to submerging which I personally executed! My friend, the great aquascaper Johnny Ciotti, did a scape for me for my office tank at Unique Corals which looked so good dry, that I almost felt guilty filling the tank!

Now, the wood I needed for this project was something more "rough", more "bark-laden"- and the look I wanted was perfectly filled by utilizing some heftier Red Mangrove branches! This is wood that definitely has that certain "submerged tree trunk/branch" thing going on, and has just enough bark on it to give a very natural look- you know, kind of like a brach that fell to the forest floor and was submerged by the waters when the rainy season came...

Yeah, that sort of thing.

Although I can hardly escape criticism for my near-complete lack of aesthetic sensibilities when it comes to wood stacks, one thing I DO have is my (if I say so myself!) keen understanding of the need for water movement and access, honed through decades of keeping reef aquariums. "Nooks and crannies" within the wood stack are to me far more important than exposing that one desired "facet" of a piece of wood to the viewer, etc. The bottom line is that this is an aquarium which I need to maintain for years, not for a few months for a contest, so thinking through some of the more mundane functional considerations is vital, IMHO. I need to be able to work in the tank.

As far as substrate is concerned, I am branching out just a bit from the usual substrate of choice in my tanks (CaribSea "Torpedo Beach" sand), and going with a slightly different version- CaribSea "Sunset Gold", which actually resembles our local Southern California beach sand in both color and texture. I like that it has a slight "tint" to it already, as the "Torpedo Beach" always ends up slightly "stained" by all of the tannins in the water anyways, which I like. This saves a bit of time, lol.

And the reality is that I hope to see very little of the substrate exposed, once things really get underway. I want to go for a significant amount of leaf and botanical coverage in this tank. I'm modeling it, of course, after once of my favorite pics by Mike Tuccinardi.

As far as which leaves I'm going to use, I am leaning towards a mix of Magnolia, Guava, Jackfruit, and maybe a smattering of medium Catappa and definitely, a few Yellow Mangrove leaves (yes, you heard me). I believe this will provide the right combination of shape, texture, and "structural integrity" I'm looking for.

These will certainly last a bit longer than a "straight-up" catappa leaf litter bottom, and I have no doubt that they'll recruit biofilms like mad i the early days (explaining THAT to visitors is gonna be a lot of fun! I think I might have to make prints of some of those underwater scenes and hang them near the tank to "validate" my aesthetics here, lol)

From here, it gets a bit more "murky" (perhaps literally), as I think I'm going to utilize "bits and pieces" of stuff like Cutch Tree Bark, crumbled Indian Catappa Bark, and maybe some broken Fishtail Palm Stems to provide a bit of accent on the bottom. Will I throw in a few palm fronds? Not sure just yet, but having a few small ones breaking down i the tank will be pretty authentic!

Like many of you, I need to fight my urge to load up the tank with as many different botanicals as possible, to try to get the scene I really want. A sort of "less is more" approach when it comes to how many type of botanicals I'll use will serve me well, I think. Not that there's anything wrong with a lot of variety...but not in the scheme in my head this time! 

I'm also trying to take on a different mindset this time. I'm going to envision how the scene would naturally come together as part of a "dry" forest floor...liek, thinking about how materials would aggregate and accumulate in certain areas. Obviously, once the water hits, things get a bit different, but thinking from a bit of a "terrestrial" mindset at the outset will, I think, positively influence my approach to the 'scape.

(Image by Dick Culbert, used under CC BY 2.0)

The strong connection between land and water is something that I think that an aquarium attempting to replicate an Igapo habitat can do really well. I feel that it's been an historically under-represented, yet absolutely amazing ecological niche for aquarists to play with. 

Oh, and I might throw in some random elements, like some submerged terrestrial plants- ones which I know can tolerate long periods of submersion. This will be something I haven't done before, and I've been doing some studying on possible candidates. None will be from the actual region we're inspired by specifically, but will be representative of those encountered in these habitats. This is not going to be a strict biotope aquarium...it's biotope inspired.

As far as fishes...because that's what everyone wants to know...I can honestly say that I have not finalized ANY candidates at this point! I've been more concerned about getting the overall aquatic environment the way I'd like it first. Obviously, given my incredible love for characins, you can bet a bunch of Tetras will reside there...and a few catfishes...But that's as far as I've gotten in that process. Crazy, huh?

So, I hope you enjoyed this brief introduction to my next aquarium project. It's as much about mindset and concept as it is about the actual execution of the tank. I promise to document the process, changes (you KNOW I'll make plenty), trials and tribulations of this tank as it comes to life. I keep saying I'm gonna do this... So the time is now.

And I hope that I can inspire a few of you along the way; or at the very least, share some ideas that you might want to play with. And of course, I look forward to your feedback, questions, and suggestions as I move ahead.

Until next time...

Stay enthusiastic. Stay honest. Stay relaxed. Stay creative. Stay innovative...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics