The Tint

The Best and The...Not Brightest?

The words "tropical fish" always seem to evoke the vision of super-colorful, exotic-looking animals, with bright patterns and flashes of iridescent splendor. There is something amazing about the imagery. Its spawned thousands of hobby "careers" over the past century.

I like bright, colorful fishes as much as the next guy...

Yet, why do I love small, grey-brown fishes? A better question is, why are there so many different grey/brown fishes anyways?

Why do I covet fishes, and even corals that most people find rather uninteresting?  Why do I get excited about wild guppies, Marble Hatchetfishes, Chocolate Gouramis, and those kind of "dull" knifefishes, way more than I do about almost any other fishes?

If I look at it objectively, I've always kind of favored small, grey-brown fishes. Or subtly colorful ones, at least.

Why do I like these small, grey-brown fishes so much? Why do I covet fishes that most people find rather uninteresting? I mean, lately, I'm really obsessed with Elachocharax pulcher, which is really kind of a brown and grey "cammo" colored fish. Hardly "exciting" in the traditional context.  Yet, I am totally into that fish. Like, what's up with that? Do I not get out enough or something? Am I too "cool" to jump on the bandwagon of sexy designer bettas and African cichlids?

No- I love them. I do. Yet, they're not the particular subjects of my adoration.

Why do I covet seemingly "boring-colored" fishes so much? 

Well, could it simply be that, after a lifetime in the hobby- I’ve learned to be honest with myself about what I like?  Perhaps I am more into the "overall" aspects of a fish than I am about their color alone. I mean, behavior, habits, environmental digs- the whole picture is what makes a fish "sexy" to me. I mean, Elachocarax puncher is an inhabitant of Amazonian leaf litter beds..and as such, it's particularly fascinating to me!

I love Farlowella catfishes because they blend in so well with the elements found in their natural habitats, like leaves, branches, and their namesake, twigs. And they look super cool when displayed in this manner in the aquarium.

I find "chromatically challenged" fishes fascinating for so many other reasons... And so does the rest of the hobby, I think.

Glass Catfish are as colorless as a fish can be, yet are an all-time favorite…and they “go” with just about any “aquatic color scheme”, right? 

Not too long ago, I was in my LFS when the shipment arrived. As usual, I hung around watching the crew open up the boxes to see what was swimming. "Designer" Angels? An L264 Pleco? No, this time, it was a box of wild Cardinal Tetras. The “bread and butter”, ultra “common” staples of the aquarium hobby.

"Common" seems like such an unfortunate label to ascribe to any fish, doesn't it?

I was admiring these crazy-colored tetras, swimming in their bags, and considering what brought them here. Just a few days earlier, these little guys were happily swimming somewhere in their native Amazonia, thinking only of where their next meal was coming from, and ways to avoid becoming menu items for someone. Then, they are unceremoniously scooped up, placed in a bag, and whisked off to parts unknown.

What were they thinking now, I wondered?

Who would end up buying them? What size aquarium would they spend the rest of their lives in? Would they be comfortable, well fed- or would they slowly waste away and die? Do we ever think about this?

Was I being overly sentimental? Or stupidly judgmental?  Likely. I mean, all they were probably "thinking" about was when their next meal was coming!  

Okay, that was weird. There was a "bigger picture" thing on my mind, though.

For some reason, I was contemplating; just for a second- how easy it is to take for granted what has become a “common” fish to us. And, what makes them "common?" Why do they have this moniker?

Because they're popular?

Well, sure.

Cardinal Tetras are popular in the aquarium hobby for a reason: They are beautiful, not trendy. Yet, they are interesting creatures. They are precious, regardless of the price tag- and they are worthy of our respect and admiration.  They need not be expensive and flashy to be worthy of our admiration, do they?

Cardinals just happen to be super colorful and flashy, despite their ubiquitous nature in the aquarium trade. Of course, being super colorful isn't the prerequisite for being "beautiful" to hobbyists, is it?

Where's all the algae?

Like any other type of aquarium methodology, the botanical-style aquarium requires diligence and follow-up. You need to keep on top of some things.Now,  It's not like your aquarium is teetering on the brink of failure; you just need to monitor the water parameters and observe. 

Yet, for some reason (likely, the aesthetics) aquariums which embrace this methodology seem to be viewed by some as undisciplined, sloppy, and even managed haphazardly. The reality is that these are some of the most stable, easy-to-maintain aquariums you can set up. The key is patience and having a good understanding of how these systems work.

Like, how they embrace natural processes. You know, the kind that have been occurring in Nature for eons.

And the broad descriptor, "natural processes" includes the growth of every aquarist's least favorite aquatic organism, algae! 

Readers have told me that I haven't touched on what they consider to be one of the more interesting "benefits" of a blackwater aquarium that many of us have experienced:

The fact that the occurrence of nuisance algae outbreaks seem to be relatively rare in these systems. And they're correct, this is an interesting topic that I have briefly touched on, but never really went into a lot detail about.

And it's always  controversial, too!  

'Cause it's algae, man.

It scares the living shit out of almost every hobbyist.

There are countless forum threads, magazine and online articles, and lectures all about algae and algae control. The causes and techniques for control seem to be pretty well known in the hobby, and covered in intimate detail by experts far more learned than I. We're not going to touch on every nuance of a subject that's been well-covered in the hobby for over a century.

Rather, lets talk about algae relative to the types of aquariums we play with!

While it would be intellectually dishonest (and just plain untrue) for me to assert that blackwater/botanical aquariums aren't susceptible to algae outbreaks, it is sort of remarkable that we simply don't have massive algae issues in these types of aquariums on a regular basis, right? I mean, we have tanks in which we willingly dump in large quantities of botanical materials, which certainly increase the biological load of the aquarium.

You'd think that this would be pretty much a recipe for an algal bloom of epic proportions.

Now, I have to admit, that I have never had one of those nightmare algal blooms in a blackwater aquarium...and although it sounds like tannins or some other "substances" in the blackwater would be the obvious "x factor", I'll tell you that I've personally never had a major algae outbreak in any of the other types of aquariums I work with, either. Now, let's be clear:  I'm not saying that I've never had algae issues in any of my tanks. Of course I have.  I've just never had one of those "I'm ready to tear down my tank and quit the hobby" kinds of algae blooms.

(Like, I'd ever quit the hobby because of something stupid, like algae! C'mon.)

So, from  personal standpoint, I can shout, "My blackwater tanks don't have excessive algae issues!"

However, they do have some algae from time to time.

Of course.

So, what kinds of algae do I see in my botanical-style aquariums which have tinted water?

For one thing, I will get the algae on the glass in some of them. You know, that easy to wipe away, diatom-like stuff. Notice I said "diatom-like", because I'm not 100% certain that it is. Since I'm not a professional biologist, I can only wonder exactly what this stuff really is.

Diatoms tend to rely on phosphates and silicates for growth- two compounds which are lacking in my source water. How diatoms can appear in tanks in which I use reverse osmosis/deionized water, produced by an RO/DI unit which has a specialized resin cartridge to remove silicates and phosphates, for that matter- leaves me wondering.

Of course, phosphates come from foods, so I can see why I might encounter it on occasion in my tanks. Although my phosphate levels in most of my freshwater tanks are undetectable on high-end hobby test kits/checkers.

Anyways, it generally takes a couple of weeks to accumulate to the point where I feel it necessary to break out the algae scraper. I think that the fact that I don't use high intensity lighting on most of my botanical-style tanks not only limits some algae growth, but it makes it more difficult to see as well!

I have to admit that I've  never encountered those Bryopsis or so-called "Black Beard Algae"growths. For some reason, it's not something that tends to grow in my tanks. I could speculate why, but I'd be doing just that- speculating. Likely its some combination of nutrients and lighting- perhaps even water movement. Hard to say, right?

And then there is the well-known "hair algae" or "thread algae" as it's commonly known to hobbyists. The causes, as usual, of this algae are thought to be excessive light and nutrients, like iron, phosphate, etc. I know those of you who keep planted tanks despise the stuff.

Now, I can tell you that the only time I've encountered this in a botanical-style aquarium was in a tank which had plants, and in which, in the name of experimentation, I deliberately cranked up the lighting intensity to a level far in excess of what was necessary to grow the few plants present in the aquarium.

Yeah, the stuff made its appearance. And it left very quickly once I dialed down the lighting, FYI. 

Now, one thing that we might encounter now and again, particularly in newer aquariums with lots of botanicals and sedimented substrates, is a little "dusting" of sediment on the walls of the tank. It's usually just that- sediment and some bits of botanical materials which get mixed into the water column after set up and settle on the walls of the aquarium, and on the leaves and wood.

This should not be confused with algae.

And the same thing happened in Nature. Always remember that.

And of course, biofilms and fungal growths, ever-present in botanical-style aquariums, need no real introduction to most of our followers. We just need to understand how and why they form, and what they mean for the ecosystem of our aquarium. And we need to understand that not only are they desirable, they are to a certain extent "self-regulating", and you'll often only see them if you look really carefully for them.

Unlike fungi and biofilms, in general, most algae tend to rely on nutrients and light, and will grow more extensively when higher amounts of both are available. We know this basic premise from our earliest days in aquarium keeping.

Yet, why don't you commonly see large amounts of algae in blackwater aquariums?  For that matter, how come you don't see huge algal growths in blackwater systems in Nature? What factors contribute to or limit their growth in Nature?

You may or may not be surprised.

I read a study from the University of Georgia, which examined the apparent limited amount of algal growth in blackwater streams, to determine if the limiting factor was chemical (nutrient) or light-driven...and lo and behold, the study concluded that it wasn't necessarily some magic stuff in tannins and blackwater that inhibited algae growth, as much as it was light limitation! 

Yeah, the light-limiting effects of the blackwater itself were discovered to inhibit algal growth in coastal plain streams. As light penetrates the water, high dissolved organic compound concentrations and suspended solids can scatter and absorb light, impacting algal growth significantly. 

Okay, sounds like a bummer if you want to believe blackwater is "magic", but the study also concluded that blackwater systems were somewhat nutrient-limited, which also affected the growth of algae- although this was not concluded to be the primary factor which inhibited algae growth.

In fact, another study I perused about the Rio Negro concluded that it was found that there is a relatively small difference in "respiration rates" between "whitewater" and "blackwater" rivers, and that the presumption that blackwater systems are more "sterile" is sort of...overstated. 

There is a lot of potential organic "algae fuel" there, despite limited concentrations of certain ions and trace elements. Yet, nutrients- be they organic or inorganic- are only part of the equation for algal growth.

Interestingly, the study also concluded that higher incidence of algal growth occurred in areas in Amazonia where water movement was minimal, or even stagnant, suggesting that, all things being equal, light limitation and water movement are possibly more significant than just higher nutrient concentrations alone!

And that makes sense, if you consider the long-held belief within the aquarium hobby that most plants don't do well in blackwater aquariums "because they don't get enough light!"

Yikes! 

So the long-held aquarium attitude about blackwater having some algal-inhibiting properties is really based on the fact that it's...darker? I mean, every blackwater/botanical-style aquarium I have ever owned does have some algae present. Although, being a reef guy at heart, every aquarium I own has good water movement. In leaf-litter-dominated aquariums, which I love, I still keep a good amount of flow going.

This is interesting, because you'd think that an aquarium dominated by decomposing leaf litter would be a veritable "algae farm", right? And yet, I've experienced no more occurrence of algae in the leaf litter tanks than I have in other setups. On the other hand, regardless of what type of system I work with, I'm fanatical about husbandry and nutrient control/export...obviously, another key factor.

As you know by now, the ecology of the botanical-style aquarium is all about facilitating natural consumption of nutrients via biofilms, fungal growths, and other  organisms. In other words, algae has to compete for available nutrients with a whole host of organisms! And algae doesn't always win. Even in circumstances where you might think it could.

Interesting stuff, huh?

The very composition of our botanical-style aquariums is likely the biggest reason why these tanks tend not to grow large amounts of "nuisance algae."

Of course, there is still the light factor, right?

Since a lot of blackwater/botanical-style tanks are hardscape only, with little or no aquatic plants present, the lighting we are employing is often strictly aesthetic, right? So, you're not hitting a tank with decomposing pods and no plants with 14 hours of high intensity full-spectrum light...

Nope.

Well, that certainly can be part of the reason why our botanical-style aquariums magically have essentially little to no nuisance algae, huh? We pin both the praise and the blame for algae on the wrong suspects, I think! 

Man, this deserves more study...a lot of it.

And with more and more hobbyists playing with planted blackwater tanks, we'll have a greater "body of work" from which to draw. For that matter, more botanical, blackwater tanks in general means more material to analyze! 

An there is another thing: As we've beaten into your head relentlessly, in our truly "natural style" tanks, we don't really care if there is some algae in there. We've made that "mental shift" that says it's okay to have some decomposing botanicals, brown water, biofilms, and yeah...algae. Because natural habitats do, too.

So it's not so bad, right?

The fact that we label it a "nuisance" IS sort of ridiculous, huh?

Let's think about algae in the aquarium to begin with...No, not the boring old "This is how algae problems happen in our aquariums..." lecture that you've read on every website known to man since the internet sprung to life. You can find that stuff everywhere. I don't need to deep-dive into how algae appears/grows, and how to get rid of it.

Rather, let's think about how we, as a group, mentally are opposed to the stuff in our tanks. I mean, yeah, I know of no one that really enjoys a tank smothered in algae. It looks like shit, and is a "trophy" for incompetence, in the eyes of most aquarists. In fact, I remember reading once that more people quit the aquarium hobby over algae problems than almost anything else!

Yuck!

Well, sure- algae problems caused by obvious lapses in care or attention to normal maintenance, like overfeeding, lack of water changes, gross overstocking, etc. are signs of...incompetence. The occasional algae outbreaks that many hobbyists suffer through have all sorts of other potential causes, and can often be traced to a combination of small things that went unchecked, and are typically controlled in a relatively short amount of time once the causative factors are identified.

Yet, as a group, us hobbyists freak out about algae in our tanks. I can show you a hundred pics of algae in the Amazon region for example, and say, "See it happens here too! Natural!" and the typical hobbyist will still be rendered speechless with horror.

And I can't even tell you what it would do to one of those "natural aquascaping" contest freaks or judges if you entered an aquarium with some algae growing in it! They'd lose their shit over that! People might die. You could be charged as an accessory to murder! 

So, not everyone gets it. Just like brown water, fungal growths, biofilms, and decomposing leaves. It's hardly a cause for celebration with many hobbyists. Yet, it's appearance does not signal doom. Algae, like all organisms, appears and flourishes when the right conditions are available. Simple as that. If you don't like the look of algae, you can attempt to limit its growth by addressing the potential root cause(s) of it's appearance.

Sure, "algae is the foundation of life", blah, blah, blah, and all that shit. Yet, it's also the foundation for a "cottage industry" of devices, chemicals, and treatment regimens designed to eradicate it quickly and decisively. When it appears in our tanks, we almost reflexively embark on strategies to eliminate it at all costs. 

I suggest that, despite our desire to eliminate it rapidly and entirely, we at least consider some of the benefits it can bring to the overall ecosystem that is our botanical-style aquarium. Stuff like supplemental nutrient export, food for fishes, and an indicator of the suitability of our aquarium for aquatic life.

Much like biofilms, decomposition, and fungal growth, we can make some mental shifts to understand, tolerate, and even appreciate what algae brings to the table. It's not always bad to have algae present. In fact, it would be bad NOT to have it present! We just happen to work in a hobby specialty that doesn't see a ton of it.

Tinted water is not a panacea, but it is a potential factor which limits excessive amounts of algae growth- both in Nature and in the aquarium. 

So, the key takeaways here are that:

1) Although there are many beneficial substances in blackwater, such as humic substances, tannins, etc., it's inconclusive if they alone are the reason (or even part of the reason) why we seem to have less incidence of algae in our blackwater aquariums. Some research suggests otherwise.

2) The light penetration limitation imposed by blackwater definitely has been shown to decrease or limit algal growth in the wild, and in the aquarium.

3) You still might see some algae in your tinted, botanical-style aquariums.

4) It's not a bad thing to have algae in your aquarium.

We can use a combination of understanding, acceptance, and good husbandry to manage its appearance in our tanks.

Let's consider algae control one more time:

Algae is super opportunitstic. That's why it's been around for billions of years. It waits for the proper conditions, and takes off when it's needs are met. In the closed system of an aquarium, algae blooms are simply caused by excess nutrients accumulating or being made available somewhere in the system, in conjunction with available light.

Simple as that.

And the solution is not fancy additives, manual removal, etc. It's isolating the cause of the nutrient excess and discontinuing or eliminating whatever practices, additions, or factors are contributing to it. So the "enemy"- the problem- is really not the algae itself (it's not attractive to everyone- I give you that.)- It's the circumstances that lead to its excessive proliferation in our systems.

That's the enemy!

Even in our sexiest, most well-maintained botanical-style aquariums, it's possible to have all of the ingredients for a good algae bloom! Because we use natural materials and allow other life forms to break them down. However, when there are excesses of what algae needs to thrive...it does just that.

Think about it- algae are merely exploiting what is there to exploit.

Take that away, and the excess of algae go "buh-bye!" Your mission:  Out hustle. Outcompete. Outwit. Outlast...Understand. Sounds like a the format of a successful reality TV show, but it's the key to control of excessive algal growth. Simple as that. Beat it at its own game with a life form that is more efficient at doing what the algae is doing. Take away the excess of whatever factor- nutrients, light, stagnation, etc., and the algae subsides.

Just think a bit differently about the problem. Easy.

Think about that simple idea before you reach for the bottle of algaecide or other exotic, complicated control technique.

Yeah, we have a lot of work to do to understand what algae is, how it becomes a problem in some tanks, and what it's not really much of an issue with botanical-style aquariums.

However, that's the fun stuff, right? A chance to learn, observe, and execute.

Stay diligent. Stay observant. Stay creative. Stay consistent...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

The slow(er) road to success with fish stocking...

One of the questions which we are asked less and less these days is, 'What kinds of fishes are suitable for a botanical-style aquarium?" I think that after 6 years of pounding all of these ideas into your heads about all of the strange nuances of botanical-style aquariums, it's almost universally understood that pretty much any fishes can live in them.

On the other hand, when it comes to how we stock our tanks, nothing has really changed...however, it could. And it should, IMHO.

We spend a pretty good amount of time studying, scheming, and pondering how to create a compatible, interesting, and attractive community of fishes within our aquariums.

It's probably among the most enjoyable things that we do in the hobby, right?

As a somewhat eccentric philosopher of all things fish, one of my favorite things to ponder is stuff that we do while creating our aquariums which is- intentionally or otherwise- analogous to the factors in Nature that result in the environments and fish populations that we find so compelling.

If you're like me, you likely spend a little too much time pondering all sorts of arcane aspects of the hobby...Okay, so maybe you're NOT like me, but you probably have a rather keen interest in the way Nature operates in the wild aquatic systems of the world, and stock your aquariums accordingly.

As one who studies a lot of details about some of the habitats from which our fishes come, I can't help but occasionally wonder exactly what it is that brings fishes to a given location or niche within a environment?

Now, the first answer we're likely to proffer is the most apparent...right? I mean, they follow the food!

Fishes tend to move into new areas in search suitable food sources as part of their life cycle. And food sources often become available in habitats such as flooded forest areas after the rains come, when decomposing leaves and botanical materials begin to create (or re-activate, as the case may be) "food webs", attracting ever more complex life forms into the area.

When we create our aquariums, we take into consideration a lot of factors, ranging from the temperament and size of our fish selections, to their appearance, right? These are all important factors. However, have you ever considered what the factors are in nature which affect the composition of a fish community in a given habitat?

Like, why "x" fish is living in a particular habitat?

What adaptations has the fish made that make it uniquely suitable for this environmental niche? Further, have you thought about how we as hobbyists replicate, to some extent, the actual selection processes which occur in Nature in our quest to create the perfect community aquarium?

Now, if you're an African Cichlid lover or reef hobbyist, I'm sure you have!

Social hierarchies, spatial orientations, and allopathic processes are vital to success in those types of aquariums; you typically can't get away with just throwing in a random fish or coral and hoping it will just mix perfectly.

However, for many hobbyists who aim to construct simple "community tanks", it isn't that vital to fill specific niches and such...we probably move other factors to the forefront when thinking about possible additions to our community of fishes: Like, how cool the fish looks, how large it grows, if it has a peaceful temperament, etc. More basic stuff.

However, in the end, we almost always make selections based upon factors which we deem important...again, a sort of near-mimicry of natural processes- and how the fishes work in the habitat we've created for them.

"Unnatural selection?" Or...Is it essentially what nature's does for eons?

Oh, and what exactly is an "aquatic habitat", by the way? In short, you could say that an aquatic habitat is the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics which determine the suitability for habitation and reproduction of fishes.

Of course, these characteristics can determine which fishes are found in a given area in the wild- pretty much without exception. It's been happening for eons.

Approaching the stocking of an aquarium by determining which fishes would be appropriate for the physical characteristics of the tank is not exactly groundbreaking stuff.

However, when we evaluate this in the context of "theme", and what fish would be found within, say, an Amazonian Igarape stream or a Southeast Asian peat swamp, the idea of adding fishes to "exploit" the features of the habitat we've created is remarkably similar to the processes which occur in Nature that determine what fish are found there, and it's the ultimate expression of good tank planning, IMHO.

It's just kind of interesting to think about in that context, right?

Competition is another one of the important factors in determining  how fish populations in the wild. Specifically, competition for space, resources (e.g.; food) and mates are prevalent. In our aquariums, we do see this to some extent, right? The "alpha male" cichlid, the Pleco that gets the best cave, and the Tetra which dominates his shoal.

How we create the physical space for our fishes can have significant impact on this behavior. When good hiding spaces are at a premium, as are available spawning partners, their will be some form of social hierarchy, right?

Other environmental factors, such as  water movement, dissolved oxygen, etc. are perhaps less impactful on our community once the tank is established. However, these factors figure prominently in our decisions about the composition of, or numbers or fishes in the community, don't they?

For example, you're unlikely to keep Hillstream loaches in a near stagnant, blackwater swamp biotope aquarium, just like you'd be unlikely to keep Altum Angelfish in a fast-moving stream biotope representation. And fishes which shoal or school will, obviously, best be kept in numbers.

"Aquarium Keeping 101", again.

One factor that we typically don't have in our aquaria is predation. I know very few aquarists who would be sadistic enough to even contemplate trying to keep predators and prey in the same tank, to let them "have at it" and see what happens, and who comes out on top!

I mean, there is a lot to this stuff, isn't there?

Again, the idea of creating a tank to serve the needs of certain fishes isn't earth-shattering. Yet, the idea of stocking the tank based on the available niches and physical characteristics is kind of a cool, educational, and ultimately very gratifying process. I just think it's truly amazing that we're able to actually do this these days.

And the sequence that you stock your tank in is extremely pertinent.

I think that you could literally create a sort of "sequence" to stocking various types of fishes based on the stage of "evolution" that your aquarium is in, although the sequence might be a bit different than Nature in some cases. For example, in a more-or-less brand new aquarium, analogous in this case to a newly-inundated forest floor, their might be a lot less in the way of lower life forms, such as fungi and bacteria, until the materials begin breaking down. You'd simply have an aggregation of fresh leaves, twigs, seed pods, soils, etc. in the habitat.

So, if anything, you're likely to see fishes which are much more dependent upon  allochthonous input...food from the terrestrial environment. This is a compelling way to stock an aquarium, I think. Especially aquarium systems like ours which make use of these materials en masse.

Right from the start (after cycling, of course!), it would not be unrealistic to add fishes which feed on terrestrial fruits and botanical materials, such as Colossoma, Arowanna, Metynis, etc. Fishes which, for most aquarists of course, are utterly impractical to keep because of their large adult size and/or need for physical space!

(Pacu! Image by Rufus46, used under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Now, a lot of smaller, more "aquarium suited" fishes will also pick at these fruits and seeds, so you're not totally stuck with the big brutes if you want to go this route! Interestingly, the consumption and elimination of fruits by fishes is thought to be a major factor in the distribution of many plants in the region.

Do a little research here and you might be quite surprised about who consumes what in these habitats!

More realistically for most aquarists, I'd think that you could easily stock first with fishes like surface-dwelling (or near surface-dwelling) species, like hatchetfishes and some Pencilfishes, which are largely dependent upon terrestrial insects such as flies and ants, in Nature. In other words, they tend to "forage" or "graze" little, and are more opportunistic, taking advantage of careless insects which end up in the water of these newly-inundated environs.

I've read studies where almost 100 species were documented which feed near-exclusively on insects and arthropods from terrestrial sources in these habitats! As I mention often, if you dive a bit deeper than the typical hobbyist writings, and venture into scholarly materials and species descriptions, you'll be fascinated to read about the gut-content analysis of fishes, because they give you a tremendous insight about what to feed in the aquarium!

Continuing on, it's easy to see that, as the environments evolve, so does the fish population. And the possibilities for simulating this in the aquarium are many and are quite interesting!

Later, as materials start to decompose and are acted on by fungi and bacteria, you could conceivably add more of the "grazing" type fishes, such as Plecos, small Corydoras, Headstanders, etc.

As the tank ages and breaks in more, this would be analogous to the period of time when micro-crustaceans and aquatic insects are present in greater numbers, and you'd be inclined to see more of the "micropredators" like characins, and ultimately, small cichlids.

Interestingly, scientists have postulated that evolution favored small fishes like characins in these environments, because they are more efficient at capturing small terrestrial insects and spiders in these flooded forests than the larger fishes are!

And it makes a lot of sense, if you look at it strictly from a "density/variety" standpoint- lots of characins call these habitats home!

Then there are detritivores.

The detrivorus fishes remove large quantities of this material from submerged trees, branches, etc. Now, you might be surprised to learn that, in the wild, the gut-content analysis of almost every fish indicates that they consume organic detritus to some extent! And it makes sense...They work with the food sources that are available to them!

At different times of the year, different food sources are easier to obtain.

And, of course, all of the fishes which live in these habitats contribute to the surrounding forests by "recycling" nutrients locked up in the detritus. This is thought by ecologists to be especially important in blackwater inundated forests and meadows in areas like The Pantanal, because of the long periods of inundation and the nutrient-poor soils as a result of the slow decomposition rates.

All of this is actually very easy to replicate, to a certain extent, when stocking our aquaria. Why would you stock in this sort of sequence, when you're likely not relying on decomposing botanicals and leaves and the fungal and microbial life associated with them as your primary food source?

Well, you likely wouldn't be...However, what about the way that the fishes, when introduced at the appropriate "phase" in the tank's life cycle- adapt to the tank? Wouldn't the fishes take advantage of these materials as a supplement to the prepared foods that you're feeding them? Doesn't this impact the fishes' genetic "programming" in some fashion? Can it activate some health benefits, behaviors, etc?

I believe that it can. And I believe that this type of more natural feeding ca profoundly and positively impact our fishes' health.

I’m no genius, trust me. I don’t have half the skills many of you do but I have succeeded with many delicate “hard-to-feed” fishes over my hobby “career.” 

Why?

Because I'm really patient.

Success with this approach is simply a result of deploying "radical patience."  The practice of just moving really slowly and carefully when adding fishes to new tanks. 

It's a really simple concept.

The hard part is waiting longer to add fishes.

Wait a minimum of three weeks—and even up to a month or two if you can stand it, and you will have a surprisingly large population of micro and macro fauna upon which your fishes can forage between feedings.

Having a “pre-stocked” system helps reduce a considerable amount of stress for new inhabitants, particularly for wild fishes, or fishes that have reputations as “delicate” feeders.

And think about it. This is really a natural analog of sorts. Fishes that live in inundated forest floors (yeah, the igapo again!) return to these areas to "follow the food" once they flood.

It just takes a few weeks, really. You’ll see fungal growth. You'll see some breakdown of the botanicals brought on by bacterial action or the feeding habits of small crustaceans and fungi. If you "pre-stock", you might even see the emergence of a significant  population of copepods, amphipods, and other creatures crawling about, free from fishy predators, foraging on algae and detritus, and happily reproducing in your tank.

We kind of know this already, though- right?

This is really analogous to the tried-and-true practice of cultivating some turf algae on rocks either in or from outside your tank before adding herbivorous, grazing fishes, to give them some "grazing material." 

Radical patience yields impressive results.

It’s not always easy to try something a little out of the ordinary, or a bit against the grain of popular practice, but I commend you for even thinking about the idea. At the very least, it may give you pause to how you stock your tank in the future, like  "Herbivores first, micro predators last", or whatever thought you subscribe to. 

Allow your system to mature and develop at least some populations of fauna for these fishes to supplement their diets with. You’ll develop a whole new appreciation for how an aquarium evolves when you take this long, but very cool road.

Stay patient. Stay observant. Stay creative. Stay studious. Stay resourceful...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

Letting go...

So, you have this idea for an aquarium.

You kind of see it in your head...you've assembled the materials, got it sort of together.

You add water.

Then, you walk in the room one day, look at it and- you just HATE it.

Like, you're done with it.  Like, no re-hab on the design. No "tweaking" of the wood or whatever...You're just over the fucking thing. Ever felt that?

What do you do? 

Well, I had this idea for a nano tank a while back. It seemed good in my head...I had it up for a nanosecond.

Even memorialized it with some Instagram Stories posts. Doing that is almost always the sort of thing that forces me to move on something...I mean, if you lay down a public "marker", you've got to go, right?

I thought that the tank would be a sort of "blank canvas" for an idea I had...I liked the idea, in principle.

But I didn't see a way forward with this one. I even took the extraordinary step of removing one element of the tank (the wood) altogether, in the hope of perhaps pivoting and just doing my "leaf only scape V3.0"- but I wasn't feeling it.

Nope.

A stillborn idea. A tank not capable of evolving to anything that interested me at this time.

So...I let it go.

Yeah, made away with it. Shut it down. Terminated it...

Whatever you want to call it.

That's really a kind of extraordinary step for me. I mean, I'm sort of the eternal optimist. I try to make almost everything work if I can...

I mean, some of my favorite tanks evolved out of this mindset of sticking with something...We'll come back to that in bit.

Not this time, however.

I killed it.

Now, in the hours after the aborted aquarium move, I was actually able to gain some clarity about why I did it.

What made me do it? 

I almost always do a sort of "post mortem" analysis when I abort on an idea, and this time was no different. It was pretty obvious to me...the "writing was on the wall" with this one!

I think it centered around two things that I simply can't handle in aquariums anymore.

Don't laugh:

1) I absolutely can't stand aquariums which don't have some sort of background- be it opaque window tint, photo paper, or paint. This tank had no background. You could see the window behind it, and the trees outside on the street, and...yeah. 

2) I disdain seeing filters or other equipment in my aquariums. Like, I hate it more than you can ever even imagine. With really few exceptions,  I simply hate seeing filters and stuff. It's only in recent years that I've been able to tolerate seeing filter returns in my all-in-one tanks...and just barely. Now, this nano had a little hang-on-the-back outside power filter...Which I not only saw from the top, but from behind...because-you got it- I didn't have a goddam background on the tank, yes.

I mean, am I that much of a primadonna that I can't handle that? I mean, maybe, but I like to think of it as a situation where I have simply developed an aesthetic sense that just can't tolerate some stuff anymore. I have good ideas, and then I get to equipment...and it sort of "stifles" them a bit.

This is weird.

Okay, yeah, maybe I am prima donna.

What could I have done to salvage this tank? Add a background?

Use a canister filter and glassware, you say?  

Oh, sure. That's easy, right? I mean, all you see in the tank are these elegant curves of "lily pipes" and intakes...Maybe a surface skimmer...You just take 'em out and bleach 'em every once in a while and they stay nice and clean, and..

Okay, yeah. Great. On paper, anyways.

IMHO, glassware isn't the "organic art" that everyone seems to place on some lofty pedestal in the hobby. It reminds me of high school chemistry lab (which I think I got a C minus in, so some residual trauma there, no doubt). You think it's beautiful...I think it's simply dreadful.

It's another piece of equipment, which you see on the outside of the tank, too, with its "umbilical" of return lines shooting up along the sides. Now sure, I know these were developed to make an obvious, visible necessity (filter returns) more elegant and beautiful...However, to me, they're just that- obvious, visible, distracting...and ugly.

Hell, I've even made crazy efforts to hide the canister filters beneath my tanks before, when I couldn't hide them within the tank. It's like, I had to do something! 

I know, I'm being waaaaay too stupid about this. 

Because, really, with a lot of my reef aquarium work, and for that matter, some of my fave botanical-style tanks, you can see some of this stuff. When you see my next reef tank, you might see couple of submersible pumps in the tank , low and deep behind the rock work.

Yeah.

For some reason, it doesn't completely fry my brain in every single situation. I suppose it's a hypocritical thing, but man, sometimes it freaks me out and sometimes I can give it a pass. 

Weird, huh?

Like, why do some tanks get a pass, and others just freak me out with this stuff.

I think, maybe, it's about the "concept"of the tank.  Or the context. Like, some of my fave ever tanks, like my leaf-litter-only tanks, typically will have some equipment evident, because they are essentially a "zero-releaf" aquascape, with nothing that you can hide this stuff behind, like wood or rocks, or whatever. It's as "honest" as it gets. If you want to filter and heat the tank, you only have few options.

It never bothered me all that much in those types of tanks.

Yet, in other tanks? Just fugettaboutit!

Yeah, it MUST be about the concept of the tank. Not only will I forgive the visible equipment, sometimes I'll forgive myself the entire poor execution, too. Because, when I look back at some of the stuff I've done, that was definitely the mindset. Like, I was just happy to sort of pull it off, despite how crappy it looked, as this little gem from 2004 graphically illustrates:

Now that I look back on it, there were actually tons of times when I just let a tank evolve, unmolested and unhurried, because something spoke to me...no matter how weird or seemingly dumb the concept may have initially appeared. There was something about it that I believed in...

And occasionally, I'll try something, tear it down, and just regret it. Like, I'll realize, too late, that there was something I liked about the idea, and that I should have kept at it; let it do it's thing.

Like, what IF I kept it in play for little longer?

I mean, could it have evolved into something cool?

Maybe.

I recall a particular experiment I did with Spider Wood, which I let go very early in the game. The arrangement was almost a "reef like" concept...It didn't look right at the time, so I killed it way too early.

Like, a few tweaks to the wood stack, a buildup of substrate in the back of it, a buildup of some leaves and maybe some plants in the back, and it could have been a respectable recreation of the banks of some of the forest floor streams that I've seen in South America.

Yeah, I'd love to try that one again.

Then there were others which I had great faith in right from the start. Even though they looked a bit weird initially, I knew that they'd evolve into something special if I let them be.

Some just hit  the right note, despite a possibly shaky start. Just knew that the idea was so special, that given the space and time, they'd eventually hit the right notes...And they did.

And, then, there were those ideas which, despite their unconventional appearance, were iconic to me, because they represented the culmination of although experiment; a transformation from research to idea to reality. Stuff which created a real transformation in the way I look at aquariums. The "Urban Igapo" style aquairums that many of us execute now, arose from just such an idea.

Sometimes, you just know it. You just feel that letting go of your preconceptions, doubts, and fears, rather than letting go of the tank-is just the right move.

Regardless of the idea, or the appearance of your tank, if there is any way to salvage what you feel is a great idea- even if it means just waiting it out for awhile-  do it. 

You just never know if that one "not so good"idea will turn out to be the one that changes everything for you, and inspires others in the process. Your "fail" might be the unlock- the key- for someone else who was about give up, and then suddenly saw something in your work, and created a tank based on your "failed" concept- executed on an idea-which truly touched others in ways you might not have even thought of.

So, yeah- let go...in the right way.

Stay bold. Stay patient. Stay creative. Stay optimistic. Stay enthusiastic. Stay persistent...

And Stay Wet.

Expanded ecology?

One of the cool things about being an aquarium hobbyists is that, if you want, you can take an almost unlimited number of directions and approaches- many completely different, and achieving entirely different things. This hit home the other day when I was "playing hobbyist" and contemplating my next reef aquarium. 

Well, the reality is that, this time, I'm not actually going to create a "reef" aquarium in the "traditional" hobby sense. Rather, it's going to be a coral aquarium. The approach I take, with equipment choices, set up, and management will all be focused on keeping corals healthy, happy and growing.

I'm not going to try to recreate the ecology of the entire reef ecosystem, with lots of sand, live rock, and all sorts of interstitial and sand bed organisms. The biodiversity and ecology within the tank will largely come from the corals and fishes themselves. Corals are communal organisms that are like little havens of self-contained biodiversity, and the success of the tank will ride upon me making the corals happy.

This approach is almost a diametric opposite to the approach that I take with my botanical style aquariums, be they brackish, blackwater, or whatever. 

Taking a pause from my geeky planning, I had to laugh just a bit!

As you know, I'm a huge fan of creating a microcosm within our aquariums- at least to the greatest extent possible. I favor utilizing natural botanical materials and compositionally rich substrates to foster the ecology within our tanks. That ecology is everything from Paramecium to fungal growths, small crustaceans, and just about anything in between.

My freshwater and brackish water aquariums are ecologically rich, highly diverse miniature ecosystems. They're intended from the start to be this way. As we've discussed so many times.

And of course, the sequence or process which we employ is pretty important...And really simple.

When I set up a brand new botanical-style aquarium, my process is really nothing crazy:

1) Add substrate material

2) Add wood (if used)

3) Add botanicals (all of them, at once after preparation)

4) Innoculate with cultured of bacteria or other organisms

OR...

5) Add a bit of material (decomposing leaves or botanicals) from a healthy established tank

6) Wait, and let it "bloom."

Seriously complex stuff 😆

Woah, that blew you away, right?

Likely not, but hey. It's just not really all that exotic a procedure.

That's really about all there is to the actual physical setup process.The real part where the "rubber hits the road" is the period after the setup.

When you let it be.

A "jumping-off" stage, where our initial work is done, and Nature takes over for a while, breaking down the botanicals, allowing a "patina" of biocover and biofilm to cover some of the surfaces, removing the crisp, harsh, "new" feeling.  This is where Amano's concept of embracing the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi takes over. Accepting the transient nature of things and enjoying the beauty of the changes that occur over time. 

And of course, once stuff starts "softening" or breaking down, it doesn't mean that your job is done, or that you're just an observer from that point on. Nope. It means that you're now in a cool phase of "actively managing" (and by "managing", I am emphasizing observation more than "intervening!") the aquarium.

Sure, when you embrace this mindset, you're making minor "tweaks" as necessary to keep the aquarium healthy and moving in the direction-aesthetically, functionally, and otherwise- that you want it to. Yet, at some point early in the process- you'll likely find yourself just letting go and allowing the tank to do what Nature intends it to do on it's evolutionary path...

It's a wonderful time in the life cycle of the aquarium.

As botanical materials break down, more and more compounds (tannins, humic substances, lignin, bound-up organic matter) begin leaching into the water column in your aquarium, influencing the water chemistry and overall environment. Some botanicals, like leaves, break down within weeks, needing replacement if you wish to maintain the "consistency" of the habitat you've started to achieve in your aquarium.

Others, like bark, branches, and more robust seed pods last a much longer time. They not only serve to enrich the aquatic environment- they become "attachment points" for fungal growth, biofilms, and algal mats- just like in Nature.

The key here is that the process takes time. It cannot be rushed. We can, of course, "assist" a little bit, by adding  some bacterial cultures or cultures of other microorganisms, like Paramecium, etc., or small organisms like Daphnia.

And of course, there's the very old tried and true practice that I mentioned, of seeding your new aquarium with material (in our case, botanicals, leaves, or wood) from an existing aquarium to help "kick start" things a bit.

It's a classic way to go in many different types of aquariums, and it's every bit as effective in botanical-style tanks as it is in any other.  It won't help you evade the process by which Nature recruits organisms to develop a microbiome, but it will certainly start the process a little more quickly.

The bottom line is that you need to take time, and go slowly. Your aquarium will evolve over time- regardless of the steps you take (or don't take) to expedite the process. Going slowly- or at least, not doing stuff with the expectation that you'll get to some perceived "destination" quickly- is a great approach.

I'm not in the habit of quoting myself; however, on occasion, something like this little gem from way back in 2016 rings as true today as it did then:

"...regardless of how you employ the botanicals, I cannot stress enough the need to go SLOWLY. There is no need to rush and dump everything in at one time, or in huge quantities. Particularly in an established aquarium, where your animals are used to a certain stable range of parameters...

It goes without saying that if your introducing materials which can influence water chemistry and quality, you will need to go slow and exercise common sense. And, since botanicals are actively "breaking down" in your aquarium over their "service lifetimes", it's important to employ good husbandry techniques (i.e.; monitoring of water quality, water changes, regular filter media changes, etc.)..."

Just some words to the wise, right?

Now, a lot of hobbyists new to our world will see the first biofilms and fungal growths emerge and assume that the tank is "overloaded" with organic matter. I think that "overloaded" is, in many cases, a bit extreme. However, "adequately stocked" might be a better descriptor.

And the appearance of these organisms is the initial indicator of the developing ecology of your aquarium. These are evidence of beneficial processes that you are witnessing. Not quite what you'd colloquially call a "cycle", but a process that begins with leaves or other botanicals being colonized by organisms which help to break them down.

How does a leaf break down?  And why should you care? Well, it's a multi-stage process which helps liberate its constituent compounds for use in the overall ecosystem.

And one that is vital to the construction of a food web- both in Nature, and within our aquariums.

The first step in the process is known as leaching, in which nutrients and organic compounds, such as sugars, potassium, and amino acids dissolve into the water and move into the soil.The next phase is a form of fragmentation, in which various organisms, from termites (in the terrestrial forests) to aquatic insects and shrimps (in the flooded forests) physically break down the leaves into smaller pieces. 

As the leaves become more fragmented, they provide more and more surfaces for bacteria and fungi to attach and grow upon, and more feeding opportunities for fishes!

In a perfect world, you'd allow the tank to "run in" for a few weeks, or even months if you could handle it, before adding your fishes- to really let these organisms establish themselves. And regardless of how you allow the "biome" of your tank to establish itself, don't go crazy "editing" the process by fanatically removing every trace of detritus or fragmented botanicals.

When you do that, you're removing vital "links" in the food chain, which also provide the basis for the microbiome of our aquariums, along with important nutrient processing.

So, to facilitate these aquarium food webs, we need to avoid going crazy with the siphon hose! Simple as that, really!

Yeah, the idea of embracing the ecologically-driven breakdown of our so-called "decorative" materials in our tanks as a "phase" in the production of natural food sources in our aquariums is elegant, remarkable, and really not all that surprising. They will virtually spontaneously arise in botanical-style aquariums almost as a matter of course, with us not having to do too much to facilitate it.

I've postulated the idea about botanical/leaf litter beds functioning as a sort of biological filter, and I think it's pretty much a given that these systems do indeed perform that role. I believe that it's not only possible- but probably very efficient- to utilize the materials in the botanical/litter bed to foster denitrification.

I believe that the idea of embracing some of the things that we’ve feared- like having all of that fungal growth on new wood and leaves and stuff, understanding the turbidity and cloudy water, and accepting the fact that things will evolve past the early, perhaps unsettling aesthetics.

“Pushing through” the earliest phases.

When you think through the idea of how these early impacts are mostly aesthetic, and not harmful to your aquarium, you start to realize that the looks of this stuff is actually more awful than any possible detriments that they bring. And most important, you'll discover that "editing" it out by removing it from your tank is actually doing damage to a burgeoning ecosystem before it ever really gets off the ground!

Utilizing our friends, the bacteria- the biofilms, and the fungal growths- to work with us to create amazing, functional systems is irresistible and more achievable than ever before.

Part of the game, as we've discussed ad naseum here, is to understand, appreciate, and ultimately embrace the way the aquatic environment is influenced by the fungal growths, biofilms, and decomposition which occurs when botanicals are added into our aquariums. 

And, as we often say, that means making a mental shift to accept the unique aesthetics of a botanical-style aquarium: Brown water, stringy biofilms, and decomposing leaves and botanicals. All have their place in our world. The most challenging part of starting and managing one of these more natural, "ecology-centric" aquariums is to appreciate not only how they function, but to understand why they look the way they do.

You'll get it- after that initial, " Oh shit! What have I done? What's all of this gunky stuff..." freakout...

If you don't panic. Do some research, and learn about how natural aquatic ecosystems function, something just "clicks." And you'll understand.

It'll make sense when you get out of your head the notion that you're just trying to go after some sort of aesthetic, rather than trying to nurture the development of a miniature ecosystem within your aquarium.

I think we're starting to see a new emergence of a more "holistic" approach to aquarium keeping...a realization that we've done amazing things so far, keeping fishes and plants in a glass or acrylic box with applied technique and superior husbandry...but that there is room to experiment and push the boundaries even further, by understanding and applying our knowledge of what happens in the real natural environment. 

You're making mental shifts...replicating Nature in our aquariums by achieving a greater understanding of Nature...

Expanding the ecology of your aquarium is largely a function of expanding your mind.

You've got this.

Stay patient. Stay educated. Stay observant. Stay curious...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

Fostering a relationship...

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different..." - Coco Chanel

I believe that it's vitally important to take a different approach to seemingly mundane topics in the aquarium hobby from time to time. It makes us think. It challenges our skills, our mindset, and what we take for granted.

We have talked ad nauseam about the relationship between terrestrial and aquatic habitats. It's so fundamental that we almost don't consider it in the hobby. A real shame, because within this relationship, there may be found many valuable takeaways which can unlock some secrets to fish care.

We have studied and extensively embraced the interactions between materials like branches and roots and the aquatic environment. Yet, there are many others which we should explore more intensively, IMHO.

Like...soil.

The relationship between water and soil is actually a remarkably complex one, with biological implications that we probably haven't thought about very much as hobbyists. Studying how water gets to the aquatic habitats- or how it creates them- is a critical key to understanding the needs, behaviors, and adaptations of our fishes!

During that journey into the (aquatic) habitats, materials like humic substances, minerals, etc. will be absorbed into the water from the surrounding soil. Yeah...that's the interesting part: The surrounding geography and geology have as much to do with the ultimate water characteristics of a given habitat as anything else!

Like so many things in Nature, everything is somehow interrelated! Even fishes play a role in shaping the environment to a certain extent.

Fishes which consume matter found in the substrate (detritivores) and other materials in the substrate (omnivores) also play a fundamental role in the transportation of organic carbon, which is a source of energy for downstream fish communities.

Through their foraging activities, these fishes enhance the "downstream transport" and processing of organic material and ensure the proper functioning of the aquatic system and its biological community.

So, we have the terrestrial environment influencing the aquatic environment, and fishes that live in the aquatic environment influencing the terrestrial environment!

These interdependencies are really complicated- and really interesting!

The overriding them, again, is that geology influences water composition. 

Once again, bringing it all back to a more practical aquarium point of view, I can't help but wonder if working with different types of substrate materials (soils, sands, etc.) in our "makeup water" containers could yield some similar effects to those we see when we steep leaves and botanicals in the water.

It's an easy idea to experiment with, isn't it?

Could the right combination of soils in both our makeup water containers and even in the aquarium create even more realistic water conditions for our fishes and aquatic plants?

One can only wonder...

Would it make sense to steep some aquatic substrate in the containers in which we prepare makeup water for our tanks, much as we have done with leaves and peat moss and such for years?

I think it makes a ton of sense.

What could you expect from utilizing soils or specialized substrates in your water preparation process? 

Well, for one thing, many substrates will likely have some impact on the pH or alkalinity of the water, both in the prep container and ultimately, in the aquarium. So, wouldn't it make sense to experiment with substrates and soils as a water preparation "vehicle?" You could prepare water for use by creating the same water conditions as you'd find in your aquarium.

I think it would be a cool experiment that could ultimately simply evolve into a "process" for conditioning water for our aquariums. 

We're seeing more and more specialized "aquatic soils" for plants which are designed to simulate some aspects of the natural habitats in which they are found. Well, fishes are typically found in those habitats, too, right?

Soooo...

Why should the plants have all the fun?

They shouldn't.

Wouldn't it make sense to create some specialty substrates for use in tanks which feature fishes and not just plants (or are even devoid of plants?). What potential benefits for our fishes could be gained by using these more "technical"  substrates in our fish-centric botanical-style blackwater aquariums? 

Substrates, as we've discussed, have profound impact on the ecology of natural aquatic habitats, as well as aquariums.

That was the whole basis behind our "NatureBase" line of substrates. It's been a while since we've launched our first ones ("Igapo" and "Varzea"), with several more formulations nearing release ("Borneo", "Mangal", and "Floresta")- and the positive feedback from you, our customers, has been nothing short of incredible!  We think that our focus on well-researched, small-batch-formulated substrates just might change the way we think about substrates in the hobby. 

At the very least, the idea will impact how we integrate substrates into aquatic displays. As a hobbyist, I'm now busy designing aquatic displays around the substrate, and its form and function...A very different approach than I've taken in the past! 

It's been a ton of fun, too!

It all began by looking at the big picture, and by thinking and talking about the stuff we haven't given much thought to in years past. 

Substrates are not just "stuff you put on the bottom of the aquarium" to us. Much like in Nature, they are diverse harbors of life, ranging from fungal and biofilm mats, to algae, to epiphytic plants. Decomposing leaves, seed pods, and tree branches further enrich the substrate, creating a complex web of life which helps the fishes we're so fascinated by, to flourish.  

It's very different than what we've perceived to be "natural" in the aquairum for generations. And, if you look at the substrates in natural aquatic habitats objectively and carefully, they are beautiful.

I'm fascinated by the different types of soils or substrate materials which occur in blackwater systems and their clearwater counterparts, and how they influence the aquatic environment.

We can study and attempt to replicate some of these processes and relationships in the aquarium, and we should give due attention to researching the terrestrial habitats which surround the aquatic ones...or habitats, such as igapo, which transition between terrestrial and aquatic.

Taking the time to study these habitats in their "terrestrial" state and understanding the composition of the soil and plant species which reside in them can make a huge contribution to our knowledge as we attempt to replicate them in our aquariums.

Yeah, if you would have told me twenty years ago that I'd be reading scientific papers about, well- dirt- on the forest floors of Amazonia, I would have been like,

"Um, yeah...right..."

However, the reality is that in order to replicate habitats like flooded forests as an aquatic habitat, we need to understand them in their terrestrial state as well. Our friends who keep frogs and other herbs have an interesting understanding of these habitats, and we would do ourselves some good reaching out and discussing this sort of stuff with them!

Again, give some real thought to the idea of topography, geology, and substrate impacting the aquatic environment. It's hardly an alien concept to aquatic plant enthusiasts. They've been using specialized substrates and additives for years to grow healthy aquatic plants.

With water finding its way into the streams, rivers and other areas from so many sources, there is probably so much we can learn from finding out more about the surrounding areas themselves, and how water ultimately makes it into the bodies of water we are so obsessed with. This is an area of study in the hobby that's really wide open for advancement, IMHO.

The possibilities are endless here!

In habitats such as  blackwater streams, the color is a visual indicator of an influx of dissolved materials that contribute to the "richness" of the environment. Indeed, a blackwater environment is typically described as an aquatic system in which vegetation decays, creating  tannins that leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling tea.

Of course, there's more to it than that.

Despite the appearance, as a general rule, blackwater rivers are lower in nutrients than clear rivers. Why? They have very low concentrations of major ions, such as sodium, magnesium, potassium, and calcium, and lower conductivity and typically low levels of dissolved solids.

Blackwaters originate from sandy soils. High concentrations of humic acids in the water are thought to occur in drainages with what scientists classify as "podzol"- sandy soils. "Podzol" is a soil classification which describes  an infertile acidic soil having an "ashlike" subsurface layer from which minerals have been leached.

That last part is interesting, and helps explain in part the absence of minerals in blackwater.

Think about what that means for just a second, and about the many factors and processes that influence the water characteristics of these unique habitats.

Geology is the key.

Wouldn't it be interesting, when contemplating more natural biotope/biotype aquariums, to study and take into consideration the surrounding geology and physical characteristics of the habitat?  

As we know now, the influence of factors like soil and the surrounding geology- rocks, specifically- play a huge role in the chemical composition and appearance-of the water. It's really no different in the aquarium, right?  Except we've been playing with the "software" side- the use of terrestrial materials like seed pods, leaves, and branches.

Tannins from wood and botanical materials will leach into the water, providing the characteristic "tint" that we've become so accustomed to in our little niche. Well, so will soils and other substrate materials, right?

So, we should place as much emphasis on soils and geology.

Studying the characteristics of the igapo and varzea forests of Amazonia, for example, has yielded som interesting insights. However, it is just a start...these are the "textbook" examples of geologic influence on the aquatic environment- something that we can really run with in our aquarium interpretations of this habitat.

And the idea of incorporating botanical materials into specialized substrates is practically a replication of what occurs in Nature. We see it everywhere, and the impacts are profound.

Yes, I also have this irresistible curiosity about the potential of botanical-influenced substrates to foster denitrification. With the diverse assemblage of microorganisms and a continuous food source of decomposing botanicals "in house", I can't help but think that such "living substrates" create a surprisingly diverse and utilitarian biological support system for our aquariums.

I think that the idea of an "enriched substrate" will become an integral part of the overall ecosystems that we create. Considering the substrate as both an aesthetic AND functional component- even in "non-planted" aquariums, opens up a whole new area of aquarium "exploration."

The potential opportunities and breakthroughs are there...We just have to dig in-literally- and go after them! Studying the interdependencies and relationships between water and land is just the start!

Stay fascinated. Stay curious. Stay excited. Stay resourceful. Stay creative...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

The elegance of simplicity.

I've been hanging out with, talking to, and absorbing a lot of ideas from my friends in the reef community lately, as I've shared with you. It's gotten me to think through a lot of the approaches and ideas which I've had in my head about aquarium management over the years.

There's this thing about "simplicity" and its role in creating and managing successful aquariums over the long term.

One of the interesting things that we see discussed a lot in in the aquarium hobby is the idea of a "balanced aquarium." 

This is hardly a new concept, but it is interesting to think about in the context of simplicity, and modern approaches to aquarium keeping.

The "balanced aquarium" idea was really the first sort of application of the "aquarium as a microcosm" concept. Back in the Victorian era, the balanced aquaria was viewed as a system in which plants and fish could live for years in the same water as long as the ratio of plants and fish were “balanced.”

No water exchanges?

I know, hobbyists have taken this "approach" in all types of tanks for decades with shockingly successful outcomes, but it never sat well with me. I just fail to see what the point is, besides our human interest over all else. And it seems as though it's always discussed in the same breath as the "balanced aquarium..."

Shit.

IMHO the whole idea of "no water exchanges" is an absurd exercise in laziness. Like, why? Other than not having to spend time on doing water exchanges (IMHO, the easiest part of aquarium maintenance), what's the point? If it's to stick a bg middle finger to the hobby "establishment", there are better ways, trust me.

"No water exchanges."  Eventually, I feel that such a laissez-faire approach will come back to bite you on the ass.

So, that part of the "equation" is a big NO. And aquarists love to couch this in the veil of how it embraces "simplicity" and some sort of "natural approach to the balanced aquarium."

I call bullshit.

It's "simplicity", sure...But let's call it what it really is: It's an abandonment of our responsibilities as aquarists, IMHO. Yeah, simplicity and laziness can be- SHOULD BE- mutually exclusive. It requires more context within the framework of a "balanced aquarium."

And why do we dislike water exchange so much?

Is it the perceived sheer "drudgery" of water exchanges? The manual labor? The potential for spills? Some sort of desire to just focus on other, more interesting aspects of aquarium care and husbandry?

Over the years, in both my writings and practices, I've thought of ways how to represent water exchanges as one of the joys of aquarium keeping- You know, stuff like, "You're diluting some excess dissolved organics in your tank when you do a water exchange!" or, "Water exchanges simulate natural rain and influx/outflow of water in wild habitats!" Or even, "Water exchanges allow you to regularly interact on an intimate basis with your aquarium!"

Like, I can put a positive spin on this- but the bottom line is that aquarists almost universally seem to hate them and accept them as a "necessary evil"...and spend lots of time, money, and effort on ways to make them easier or eliminate them altogether...

Now, this is rather curious: Hobbyists who play in speciality fields- like Discus breeding, so-called "high tech planted tanks", most reefers, and our botanical-style aquarium crowd- seem to embrace water exchanges as just part of the game. Like, you will typically not see tremendous efforts to circumvent them being made- at least not publicly! 

We probably have reconciled- particularly as botanical-style aquarium enthusiasts, that water exchanges have huge value to what we do...and they are simply part of the game. 

Further, I can't help but think that the idea of water exchanges can simply be viewed with a different mind set. Really looking to Nature and attempting to view them as more-or-less a simulation of how natural systems work.

I think it's really that simple! 

And this is really the only "intervention" that we typically ask you to make in our relatively "simple" approach...Just exchanging some water regularly.

If you embrace the botanical-style aquarium idea and like it for the "simulation of Nature" part, then it goes without saying that the water exchanges we execute further represent this, and it becomes a lot easier to stomach the idea of siphon hoses, lugging around buckets of water, and the occasional (?) spill?

That should be part of this whole "balanced aquarium" idea... Or, maybe we should just toss the whole term from our hobby lexicon altogether?

Actually, the point of this piece is not to re-hash this well-trodden idea. It's to discuss the idea of running a botanical-style aquarium in a more simple manner.

But, one more thing...

Now, there is another part of the "balanced aquarium" idea that I can get on board with:

It's the idea that the aquarium should provide a significant amount of surface area. In a perfect world, the width of the aquarium should be equal to, and the length double at least of the depth to provide a surface area adequate for gas exchange to take place in an efficient manner.

Gas exchange.

I think that is applicable to almost any type of aquarium, really.

Okay, let me just cut to the chase...The whole idea behind this piece today:

I think that the botanical-style aquarium can be run with a minimal amount of technical gear, intervention, and with simple maintenance procedures.

I think you need the aforementioned gas exchange, facilitated by an aquarium with sufficient surface area. That's a given.

You'd probably want some water movement, and maybe just a bit of surface agitation. I think you could facilitate this water movement and surface agitation with a little surface skimmer, like the ones made by Eheim, Ultum Nature Systems, and Azoo, just to name a few. These are super-cool little devices, as they help remove the surface film caused by an organic-protein layer, facilitating gas exchange. As a plus, the return form these skimmers provide a little bit of water movement.

I'm currently running an ADA 60F (24"x12"x7"/ 60x30x18cm) aquarium, which is about 8.6 U.S. gallons in capacity, solely with one of these devices. It works great!! My previous iteration, the (now famous, to readers of this blog) "leaf litter only" Paracheirodon simulans tank, ran for well over a year like this with tremendous success.

Short of not having any device at all, this is likely as simple as I'd run a botanical-style aquarium. Maybe an auto top-off, but nothing else. 

Simple.

In a botanical-style aquarium run in this manner, you do have some challenges, of course. You need to stock carefully, being sure not to over-stock your system with fishes- or botanicals- at least, not at once, and not while up and running. We've already talked about the perils of going too fast, too soon. Going slowly and patiently is a long-known key to success with botanical-style aquariums.

Now, nothing is perfect.

And "simplicity of operation" is not the metaphor for "ignorance and abandonment of husbandry."

Nothing we can tell you here is an absolute guarantee of perfect results...You're dealing with natural materials, live animals, and tons of variables; the results you'll see are governed by natural processes that we can only impact to a certain extent by applying logic and common sense. 

One of the most obvious applications of common sense is the way we add botanical materials to our tanks.

And when it comes time to adding your botanicals to your aquarium, the second "tier" of this process is to add them to your aquarium slowly. Like, don't add everything all at once, particularly to an established, stable aquarium. Think of botanicals as "bioload", which requires your bacterial/fungal/microcrustacean population to handle them.

Bacteria, in particular, are your first line of defense.

If you add a large quantity of any organic materials to an established system, you will simply overwhelm the existing beneficial bacterial population in the aquarium, which will likely result in a massive increase in ammonia, nitrite, and organic pollutants. At the very least, it will leave oxygen levels depleted, and fishes gasping at the surface as the bacteria population struggles to catch up to the large influx of materials.

This is not some sort of esoteric concept, right? We know this. OR we should know this, from other aquarium work.

I mean, we don't add 25 3-inch fishes at once to an established, stable 10-gallon aquarium and not expect some sort of negative consequence, right? So why would adding bunch of leaves, botanicals, wood, or other materials containing organics be any different?

It wouldn't.

Common sense is your friend.

And then there's that whole idea of the botanicals themselves functioning as the "filter" of the system, specifically in botanical or leaf litter beds.

I've had some conversations with more science-minded botanical aquarists who postulate about the possibilities of fostering some form of denitrification in (deeper) botanical beds, and it is interesting! One of the questions that seems to come up a lot in this context is the extent to which hydrogen sulfide or other undesirable compounds can build up in a deep bed of compacted botanical materials.

In a botanical bed with materials placed on the substrate, or loosely mixed into the top layers, will it all "pack down" enough to the point where there is a complete lack of oxygen and we develop a significant amount of hydrogen sulfide or other nasty compounds in our tanks?

I think that we're more likely to see some oxygen in this layer of materials, and I can't help but speculate that actual de-nitirifcation (nitrate reduction), which lowers nitrates while producing free nitrogen, might actually occur in a "deep botanical" bed.

And it's certainly possible to have denitrification without dangerous hydrogen sulfide levels. As long as even very small amounts of oxygen and nitrates can penetrate into the substrate this will not become an issue for most systems. I have yet to see a botanical-style aquarium where the material has become so "compacted" as to appear to have no circulation whatsoever within the botanical layer.

Now, I base this on visual inspection of numerous tanks, and the basic chemical tests I've run on my systems under a variety of circumstances. I could still be wrong.

There is so much we don't know about running our botanical-style aquariums in a variety of formats. The one thing that we DO know is that they require us to make a certain mental shift.

And managing a botanical-style aquarium system at it's most simple requires discipline.

Yeah, it IS cool to toss in leaves and seed pods and soil and such, and allow them to break down in an aquarium- but that doesn't lead to an easy path to success for some people. It's reproducible- but only to those who practice more careful, consistent husbandry, observation, and possess- or acquire- extreme patience.  

Only to those who put their faith in Nature and her smallest organisms, like bacteria, fungal growths, and biofilms.

"Shit, he's talking about mental shifts again!"

Yeah. Because they are so damn important to embrace. Especially if you really want keep things simple.

Remember, this is not an "aquascaping style." It's a methodology. An approach to running a more natural aquarium. It requires you to understand some natural processes and how they impact your little closed ecosystem.

So, while it seems like it would be nothing but fun to embrace the ultra simplicity of a minimally-equipped botanical-style aquarium, it's important to remember that experimentation on simple systems still requires us to engage with, and at least attempt to understand complex ideas.

Complex ideas run seemingly simple natural ecosystems.

We can return to simplicity- even while trying to recreate some of Nature's most elegant and complex habitats in our aquariums.

One of the things you notice in the images of many natural underwater habitats is that they're usually anything but squeaky-clean, filled with ultra-white sand and organized groups of plants, like we might imagine them in our tanks.

Rather, they're often sediment-filled, covered with stringy fungal growths, biofilms, and even a spot or two of algae. Plants, if present, are scattered where they find proper conditions. There is a fair amount of detritus accumulating in the substrate materials. And, as we have discussed relentlessly, detritus is not the enemy that we've made it out to be. Rather, it's a source of food for many aquatic animals, helping to literally "power" the ecosystem in which they are present.

This is something we can-and should- absolutely replicate in our aquariums. Don't be afraid of fungal growths, biofilms, sediments and even detritus accumulating on top of your leaves and botanicals...it's exactly what you see in Nature, and our fishes are ecologically adapted to such habitats.

And of course, the whole idea of a rich, sediment-sand-and-soil substrate enriched with decomposing botanical materials is completely in line with the "best practices" we've developed as a community to create dynamic, botanical-style aquariums.

In our case, I believe that not only will there be an abundance of trace elements and essential plant nutrients be present in such a substrate, there will be the addition of tannins and humic substances which provide many known benefits for fishes as well.

And it's important to allow Nature to plot the course.

This is contradictory to over a century of aquarium keeping methodology.

You, the aquarist, ever keen on anything that occurs in your tank, will notice- and often perform subtle (or not-so-subtle) interventions to counteract this process, lest it descend into some sort of chaos, right? 

Yet, isn't "chaos" sort of a human-ascribed thing?

I mean, we're talking about changes in the aquatic habitat which evolve the look and perhaps the biological "operating system" of the aquarium. This is absolutely analogous to what happens in natural aquatic systems.

Stuff breaks down, and different types of organisms flourish and reproduce as a result. Nothing goes to waste in Nature...and that includes the "nature" which is found in our aquariums, too..

If we allow it to happen.

Allow it to happen.

It's entirely possible, in my humble opinion, that we, as aquarists actually sabotage the essential natural processes which help our tanks run when we attempt to "intervene" through excessive maintenance.

Perhaps a sort of semi hands-off approach- "passive management", if you will- is not always a bad thing. And allowing Nature to work, unimpeded, as She has for eons, is always a good "approach."

The ultimate form of simplicity.

Stay thoughtful. Stay curious. Stay deducted. Stay observant...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

Don't fear the reefer...

I wen to a "frag swap" the other day.

Yeah, a frag swap. 

A fun affair; sort of a time-honored reef-keeping tradition. It's the first one I'd been to this side of the pandemic...Actually, the first one I'd been to in a few years...Since I'm in the process of creating my next reef aquarium, the timing couldn't begetter. A chance to catch up with old friends, see some hot corals, and just geek out a bit.

It was a really good time. And the discussions were fun. A little good-natured teasing from my reefing friends about my love of "twigs and leaves and brown water", of course!

Like many of you, I'm not just a strictly freshwater kind of aquarist. Yeah, you know me as the "guy who loves leaf litter", but my hobby experience is way more than just that. I've been keeping fishes literally since I could walk, and during that time, I've run the gamut from freshwater to brackish, to everything in between.

And yeah, saltwater...Specifically, reef aquariums.

Yup, Google me prior to about 2015, and almost every reference to my name is from the reef side of the hobby. Author, lecturer, geek...all of it about reef aquariums. For about 1986 to about 2015, that was my main jam. I was obsessed with corals and reef aquariums and fishes. I co-owned a coral propagation company.

Now sure, during that time, I did a lot of work with this blackwater, botanical-style stuff, and natural freshwater aquarium in general, but reef aquariums and corals were my thing.

Where am I going with this? Trying to brag about my reefkeeing "pedigree?" No, not really...What I'm trying to get across is that it's completely possible to do both.

And do both well.

And you should. If you are up to it.

I have fielded a number of questions from our community lately about getting into reef tanks, and I thought that this summer day might be a good time to touch on that subject a bit...

As I mentioned at the outset, I'm knee-deep in planning my next reef tank, which I hope to have up this Fall. I've been re-connecting with my reef community friends and diving back into the "culture" with a different mindset than I had before. A hobbyist's mindset. A lot more humility...I'm a bit rusty on the latest and greatest...And it's pretty cool. And it's making me a better botanical-style aquarium keeper, too!

Now, I know, having spent my life in both the freshwater and saltwater worlds, that they are remarkably different from each other in many ways, yet an argument could easily be made that there are absolute "crossover skills" that can benefit you on both sides of the "salinity line!"

There are common mindsets and philosophies which, if you have acquired in the freshwater world, will serve you brilliantly in the reef world. Conversely, if you have a poor understanding of the freshwater world and some bad habits, and act impulsively, those will predictably hobble you in the reef-keeping world, too. 

And having been active at high levels on both sides, I can look at things objectively.

To be quite honest, one observation I've made in my freshwater travels and interactions with fellow hobbyists has me scratching my head:

I've noticed a sort of "fear" that the freshwater community has for reef-keeping. A tremendous amount of insecurity, if you will, about the technology, the practices, the environmental parameters, etc. And that fear keeps a lot of freshwater hobbyists from doing little more than simply looking at reef tanks.

It's absurd.

You have nothing...NOTHING to fear. 

Of course, I have to qualify it. You have nothing to fear IF: You prepare yourself and are honest about what you want. If you have correct expectations. There's nothing philosophically different about reef-keeping than what I've been beating you over the head with about botanical-style tanks for the last 6 years. You're simply applying it to a different "medium."

Keeping a reef tank is not "hard"- it simply requires you to understand some different types of environmental parameters, ecological considerations, and how to set up, optimize, and manage the appropriate equipment to accomplish what needs to be done to help corals and reef fishes thrive.

Yeah, it's no different than what we do here.

Now, I realize that any time someone writes a typical "You should do saltwater!" article, it's filled with a lot of sugary "pious platitudes" and a watered-down set of expectations of what reef keeping is, and how you can use that gear from your freshwater tank in your reef, blah, blah, blah. Well, likely you cannot, but the reality is, you can certainly keep a successful reef tank if you're successful in freshwater.

I mean, after all, the idea IS to encourage you to try it. However, downplaying the real challenges and expenses in an effort to "cheerlead" you into a reef tank is stupid.

At the risk of writing yet another syrupy plea to do the same, I'll give you some of the encouragement you need. However, I will also give you an up-front ass-kicking as only I can. And if it discourages a few of you from jumping into the reef game with an unrealistic set of expectations and the wrong attitude, then I will have succeeded, too.

Ouch...

DON'T go into the reef-keeping side of the hobby if you're not willing to do a little research. Don't go into it if you're trying to do it "on the cheap", figuring you'll start out with some cheap, junky, barely-sufficient gear and tell yourself that you'll get what you need "later." You will fail and hate reef keeping before "later" ever happens. That's virtually a fact, a high percentage of the time. I know, it sounds harsh, and that there's always "That guy in Tulsa that did a 'reef tank' with his old 40 breeder, an Eheim 2015, and a couple of powerheads", or whatever. But that's him. 

Even a broken clock is correct twice a day, right?

If you want to succeed in reef keeping, just like any part of the aquarium hobby, you need to get proper equipment. Cobbled-together shit just buys you time. 

There is a difference between "smart and inexpensive" and "dumb and cheap." There is no need to rush. Take your time, research, and accumulate the correct stuff .

I'd tell you the same damn thing before jumping into the botanical-style aquarium game, too. In fact, I have many times right here over the years!

Ouch, painful...brutal. I know.

There's more.

DON'T think about reef-keeping if you don't want to dedicate yourself to observation and looking critically at your animals, and understanding their needs, and providing for them.  Yes, it's fundamental to all aquariums, but really critical in reef keeping. Most reefers who fail, fail because they don't make the effort to understand what's happening in their aquariums. Now, look, you don't have to be a lab tech to keep a reef tank, but you need to understand some of the basics of saltwater chemistry and how stuff like calcium, magnesium, etc. are important to corals.

If you're not willing to educate yourself on basic reef aquarium chemistry, (which is really NOT that complicated, btw) then just don't start a reef tank.

UNDERSTAND that you will have to contend with stuff like algae, fish diseases, coral pests, etc. That's part of any tank. You might have to "unlearn" stuff you knew in the freshwater world. You will have to think about the interactions between corals and how you can't have all sorts of stuff in a small tank.

You'll have to grasp stuff that seems really counter-intuitive or just weird. Like, you don't NEED to have a substrate in your tank. Or, understanding that you don't need to "acclimate" corals. They're literally "self acclimating" biologically. It's hard to get your head around that. It was for me. Stuff like that even eludes some reefers, but it's an example of the kind of stuff you need to be open-minded to.

Why not be open-minded from the start?

Most important of all, though, is to have realistic expectations. And those are best acquired by educating yourself about what's really going on in the reef aquarium world. 

There are so many misunderstandings about reef aquariums, even within the reeking community, that I can see how it can be intimidating or just plain confusing to anyone. There are a few generalized "myths" out there that really serve to "poison the well" about reefs, however. And we should puncture them for you.  

Let's take a second or two to do that. Here goes. No sugar shit coating here...

Oh, wait...One thing that is NOT a myth: The reef keeping hobby is expensive. Equipment, corals, fishes...they're all pretty pricy. That's fact, and something we can discuss at a later time. I won't sugar coat it. Some stuff is over-priced, like some coral frags. Some stuff, like technology or maricultured coral colonies, are  appropriately expensive. It just is. No getting around that. Yes, there are many ways to save money- buying used equipment, DIY, trading corals, etc....And yeah, reef hobbyists are as generous as any freshwater hobbyist when it comes to that kind of stuff...A pleasant surprise for many of you, no doubt!

And that helps.

But you need to be realistic and understand that reefkeeping is pricy.

So, let's start attacking some myths here:

MYTH 1: You have to be a marine biologist to understand how to keep a reef tank.

This is such utter bullshit that I'm just going to whack you upside the head with it right out of the gate. Be serious. You understand the nitrogen cycle? Okay, good. You're halfway there. Oh, sure, you need to learn a bunch of other stuff, like the calcium/alkalinity dynamic, an understanding of lighting, flow, nutrients, and animal compatibility....

Like, is that so damn hard?

Of course not. I couldn't tell you jack shit about how to keep a planted aquarium, with all of the "estimative index" and nutrient requirement mumbo-jumbo. Ask almost any reefer, and they're far more intimidated about a planted freshwater tanks than they are about even the most demanding "SPS" reef tank.

And yeah, I DO know a lot of barely-competent aquarists who keep decent reef tanks, believe it or not. It's just not that hard.

You can easily, EASILY learn all of this stuff. Just spend a little time on that internet thing and visit a few key sites, like Reef Builders, Reef2Reef, Reefs.org, etc, or talk to a successful reefer, and you can find out pretty much all you need to know to be a successful reefer. Yes, you need to weed through the misinformation that abounds on many forums, but how is that any different than freshwater?

It's not.

MYTH 2: You need a lot of very expensive gear to run a successful reef tank.

Here we go again...

Sure, I'd be lying to you if I said that it was super cheap to properly outfit a reef aquarium. Over the years, I've outfitted a number of my tanks with equipment that collectively cost more than my first new car did Yet, you don't have to have every single fancy piece of gear out there, and you don't HAVE to buy the ultimate, top-of-the-line stuff, either.

You just have to purchase good stuff.

And some of todays's "all-in-one" tanks have a good percentage of what you need built right in. The amount of technology and gear you need to incorporate into your tank is largely driven by what kinds of animals you intend to keep, what size aquarium you are keeping, and what kind of budget you have.  It can totally vary, and there is no "cookie cutter" formula to having exactly the right equipment for every single tank. Each one is sort of a "custom solution."

Get your head around that and you'll be good.

How is this different from equipping a "Nature Aquarium", "high tech" planted tank, or a Discus tank, with all those glass pipes, canister filters, etc? 

It really isn't. You can spend a ton on both- if that's your thing.

But it doesn't have to be. 

My advice is to study what you need. Study the market. And don't buy cheap junk. Same thing I tell you in freshwater, right? Stop spending money on cobbled-together aquariums with low-grade crap. It doesn't serve you in freshwater, and it will just frustrate the shit out of you in the reef world. Yes, you don't have to buy the top-of-the-line stuff, but you don't need to buy cheap knock-off junk, either.

That's a complete waste of money IMHO.

MYTH 3: You need all sorts of test equipment to be successful.

Well, it's kind of a myth.

TBH, if you're going to keep corals, which require calcium, magnesium, etc., then you need to be able to test your tank water for it. These elements are important for coral health and growth, and you can't "wing it" and just assume that you have enough of these compounds present in your tank. That being said, you don't need to test for every single factor in a reef.

To me, essential tests would be Ammonia, nitrite, phosphate, alkalinity, magnesium, calcium. Not all that much different than a planted freshwater tank, in terms of the number of parameters you want to keep an eye on.

Sure, you could send you water samples to one of the companies which offer 40-parameter ICP-OES analysis and know how much Vanadium and Molybneium are present in your tank, but you don't have to. A lot of people enjoy that stuff, and that's okay. These advanced tests are useful for diagnosing problems and figuring out baseline parameters when your reef is firing. But they're not a "mandatory for success" thing.

One word of advice- knowing the specific gravity ("saltiness" in the most simple vernacular) of your tank is really important. Just don't wast your money on those cheap "swing arm" hydrometers to check specific gravity of your water. They're wildly inaccurate and prone to failure. Save and spring for an $80-$120USD digital refractometer. You put a few drops of water in it, and in seconds,  you get a digital readout that's stupidly accurate, in either ppt or SG.

And get high quality test kits, or handheld meters if you can afford them. yes, the stuff adds up, but having accurate information at your fingertips is critical to a successful reef tank experience.

"Situational awareness"- knowing what's going on in your reef tank, is really important, as with any aquarium. There is no substitute for observation, of course, but having a working knowledge of your aquarium's environment will keep you on top of things. And, the information you glean from regular testing and observation will continue to help grow the body of knowledge in reef aquarium practice.

MYTH 4: You need a large aquarium to have a reef tank.

Another one of those "partial true" ideas you hear tossed around by reefers, the idea of keeping so-called "nano" reef tanks is appealing to many. And yeah, there are the arguments about it being more challenging to maintain stability in a small body of water. And the counter-argument that it's far easier and less expensive to outfit a 15-20 gallon tank than a 75-225 gallon one. You can go all over the place with this one.

So, here's my thinking on this: It is absolutely, entirely possible to keep some corals in a small aquarium, if you are on top of maintenance, top-off, and are able to provide for their needs adequately (flow, lighting, etc.). My main argument against tiny reef tanks is that there are a few challenges associated with environmental control in them. The bigger argument against small tanks is that they play against our psychology.

Yeah, psychology.

We, as hobbyists, love to collect corals and fishes...and a small tank simply doesn't give you that ability to add "a little of this or a little of that" without heavy consideration. I mean, you can't in a large tank, either- but you can get away with more...The chemical competition between corals (allelopathy) is very real and some will be more assertive than others.

And it can be a real problem in a small tank, with limited "real estate", when someone pulls the "eminent domain" thing!

I'm not saying NOT to start with a small tank. I'm just saying that you should understand and accept the limitations that smaller tanks impose upon our desires. Its more about what you can't do with a small tank than what you can. That doesn't have to be a "negative..." It just needs to be understood.

I like medium to large tanks for reef aquariums for the reasons stated above and tons more. However, you absolutely do NOT need a huge tank to have a reef aquarium. Get yourself a 50-75 US gallon tank, and you're golden, IMHO.

BONUS CONSIDERATION: Do you want a "reef aquarium" or a "coral aquarium?"

WTF? Yeah. There is a distinction here. A "reef aquarium" is one in which you're tying to recreate the reef environment, with a diverse assemblage of corals, fishes, live rock, sand, macro algae, etc. A "coral aquarium" is just that- an aquarium which specializes in corals, virtually at the expense of everything else.

The biological diversity of the tank is created by the coral tissues and any associated biotia they bring along for the ride. No sand, no excess live rock", etc. Just corals, fishes, and the environment which suits their health and growth.

It's an important question to ask yourself, and it's something that you probably haven't thought about all that much, right?

This little rant is just a start. A very basic one. However, I think it might be one of the most honest and possibly even brutal breakdowns of the reef-keeping game. There are so many more topics to cover that it's not even funny. But this is a start. And I suppose I'll be documenting my new reef tank's journey when it gets underway. It might encourage- or discourage-you from doing your own. 

Most of all, I hope it makes you think. Stop. Get pissed at me. And look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you really want to do a reef tank.

Look, keeping corals and reef tanks IS fun and rewarding. You just need to familiarize yourself with their needs and requirements. It's absolutely no different in that regard than any other aspect of the aquarium hobby. Education, common sense, discipline, and patience go a long way.

The one, overarching thing about this is that you don't need to be afraid to make that jump. You just need to look at the realities of this type of tank, just as you would a botanical-style tank, Mbuna tank, planted tank, or Discus aquarium. You just need to learn.

And then, DO.

Stay bold. Stay informed. Stay critical. Stay excited. Stay diligent...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

The immortal aquarium?

I remember an old sayings to the effect that, "...Nothing is ever wasted..."

I've often applied this adage to my aquarium work. Quite literally, actually. If you've been in the hobby for any appreciable length of time, you've no doubt heard that one of the best ways to "kick start" the biological process in a new aquarium is to add some substrate from an established, healthy aquarium.

It's hardly a new idea.

The thinking is that the established material contains a population- an inoculant- of beneficial bacteria and other microorganisms to help establish pioneering populations in your new tank.

It's a sound practice that has borne the test of time well, and is part of basic aquarium keeping. It's the thinking behind many strategies and products used to help establish the nitrogen cycle in new tanks. I've always embraced this practice, and have sort of taken it farther in the past decade or so.

Since botanical-style aquariums at their very foundation rely on biological processes and diversity, I tend to utilize more than just a handful of sand for this process. I will typically use wood, botanicals, twigs, and even some of the leaves, regardless of their condition, for this process. 

So yeah, I'll literally transfer a fair percentage of the "software" from an existing tank into the new one. The rationale is exactly the same as the rationale for using sand from an established tank. And, as you probably recall, fungal growths and bacterial biofilms are also extremely valuable as food sources for life forms at many levels, including fishes.

The growth of these organisms is powered by...decomposing leaf litter! 

And the idea of adding "pre-colonized" materials from existing tanks to help "jump start" a new tank is simply a logical and economical practice. Having a big chunk of completely-established ecology transferred from one tank to another is almost too easy a process not to take advantage of!

Now, sure, transferring all of this material over isn't a way to take a shortcut to circumvent the establishment of the nitrogen cycle in the new tank, it's a step in establishing it. A way to bring some extant ecology into a new location.

And, think about it: This isn't all that different than what happens when a stream overflows and forms a new small tributary. Some of the materials from the established aquatic ecosystem flow into the newly-inundated area, bringing with them their "on-board" population of microorganisms, fungi, and insects.

Nothing's ever wasted, right?

This isn't exactly earth-shattering, I know, but it's worth thinking about vis-a vis our aquarium work. 

And, as we've discussed many times, the same sort of concept applies when you're "remodeling" an existing aquarium; perhaps switching up from say, a "South American theme" to an "African theme", or whatever.

This is similar to the Japanese aquascaping practice of "sozo haishoku" espoused by the "Master" of this in aquariums, the late Takashi Amano. This is the processs of removing of as much old substrate material as possible along with the plants it contains in an aquarium, and replacing them with new materials.

It preserves the overall "composition" of the layout, but the "softscape" (botanicals and leaves, in our case) could change dramatically.

Yeah, in the world of the botanical-style aquarium, the idea of leaving the substrate and leaf litter/botanical "bed" intact as you "remodel" isn't exactly a crazy one. It's about preserving ecology over time, and despite changes.

And conceptually, once again, it sort of replicates what occurs in Nature, doesn't it?

Yeah, think about this for just a second.

This idea is at the very heart of the "Urban Igapo" idea we love so much!

As we almost constantly discuss, habitats like flooded forests, meadows, vernal pools, igarape, and swollen streams tend to encompass terrestrial habitats, or go through phases where they are terrestrial habitats for a good part of the year.

In these wild habitats, the leaves, branches, soils, and other botanical materials remain in place, or are added to by dynamic, seasonal processes. For the most part, the soil, branches, and a fair amount of the more "durable" seed pods and such remain present during both phases. 

Materials are utilized in the habitat continuously.

As the waters return, the formerly terrestrial physical environment is now transformed into an earthy, twisted, incredibly rich aquatic habitat, which fishes have evolved over eons to live in and utilize for food, protection, and complex, protected spawning areas. 

All of the botanical material-shrubs, grasses, fallen leaves, branches, seed pods, and such, is suddenly submerged; often, currents re-distribute the leaves and seed pods and branches into little pockets and "stands", affecting the (now underwater) "topography" of the landscape.

It's all an elaborate dance, choreographed by Nature, encompassing numerous organisms, each filling a specialized role in the burgeoning aquatic ecosystem.

Continuing, developing, and evolving cycles and processes which have gone on for eons is what Nature does best.

Nothing is ever wasted. 

I might just be torturing this simple idea to death- I admit this point that I'm probably not adding much more to the "recipe" here; likely simply being redundant and even a bit vague...However, I think we need to think about how interesting and indeed, transformative this simple practice is.

And yeah, I'll concede that we probably don't have every answer on the processes which govern this stuff.

For example:

The most common question I get when it comes to taking out a fair amount of this material and then "continuing" the tank is, "Will it cycle again?"

And the answer is...Sure, it could.

On the other hand, here is my personal experience:

Remember, I keep a sort of diary of most of my aquarium work. I have for over three decades (gulp...). Just random scanning my "diary", I see that I have executed this practice dozens of times in all types of aquariums, ranging from simple planted aquariums to hardscape-only tanks, to botanical-style, blackwater and brackish aquariums, to reef tanks.

Not once- as in never- have I personally experienced any increase in ammonia and nitrite, indicative of a new "cycle."

Now, this doesn't mean that I guarantee a perfect, "cycle-free" process for you.  I'd be a complete asshole if I asserted that! Every system is different. There are numerous factors which impact the unique functions of a specific tank.

And you can't simply expect instant results, right?

Transferring a good compliment of material to an otherwise brand-new tank isn't going to fool Nature.

On the other hand, in an existing tank, by leaving the bulk of the substrate material and botanicals intact, and continuing to provide "fuel" for the extant biotia by leaving in and adding to the botanicals present in the aquarium, this lack of a "new" cycle makes a lot of sense.

Botanical-style systems are, in my opinion, more robust than they are vulnerable.

I believe that our botanical-style systems, with their diverse and dynamic biology, rebound quickly from disruptions and changes. And I also believe that, because of our approach and it's reliance on biological processes, they establish themselves to a more "stable" state far more quickly than "typical" aquariums do.

Much like the natural systems they purport to represent!

Of course, I also have in place a mindset and (like most of you) a mastery of basic aquarium husbandry practices that assure success with this approach, and that's a huge key here. Patience, and the understanding that yeah, a tank might take a while to establish itself, even with a large influx of "old" materials...or grasping the fact that you might experience an ammonia or nitrite spike when you "reconfigure" an existing tank- and being able to "go with that"- is critical to success, IMHO.

Not needing to rush to some arbitrary "finish line" is a most liberating approach to keeping any kind of aquarium. It will not only guide your practices, it will instill in you a better understanding of the processes and occurrences which take place in Nature as well. 

If you look at an aquarium as you would a garden- an organic, living, evolving, growing entity- then the need to see the thing "finished" becomes much less important. Suddenly, much like a "road trip", the destination becomes less important than the journey.

It's about the experiences gleaned along the way. Enjoyment of the developments, the process. In the botanical-style aquarium, it's truly about a dynamic and ever-changing system.

Every stage of the aquarium's existence holds a unique fascination. 

By reusing and re-purposing existing materials and the organisms which colonize them in new iterations of your tank, or new tanks altogether, you're simply carrying on the same process which have occurred in natural aquatic systems for eons.

In essence, one could argue that this process instills a certain "immortality" into our aquariums...The botanical materials and substrate form one established aquarium can literally "bring life" to a succession of new systems indefinitely!

A sort of "immortality", for sure!

Something to think about, right?

I believe so...

Stay thoughtful. Stay patient. Stay observant. Stay diligent...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

Clouds on the horizon...or in your tank?

In the aquarium hobby, we have an obsession with crystal clear water... Now, I'm not talking about water devoid of color...We have sort of reached a point where "tinted" water is accepted and even desired- a huge mental shift that many have made.

However, when it comes to clarity- that's still a "frontier" for a lot of hobbyists; perhaps even a "bridge too far" for some. That's a different "mental shift!" I wanted to return to this "clarity" idea again today, because there are some aspects of "clarity" that I think are sort of unique to the botanical-style aquarium. 

Of course, since botanical-style aquariums are conceived to operate differently in the first place, you've likely noticed that they aquariums display a number of characteristics which make them different from more "conventional" aquariums in function and appearance.

One of the things you might notice right from the start is that botanical-laden aquariums seem to have an initial "haze" or turbidity that is slow to clear. Now, part of this is no doubt due to the breakdown of the leaves, pods, etc. that we use: Surface dirt, lignin, and other compounds, bound up in the tissues of the botanicals, released into the water upon the initial submergence and after preparation of these materials.

Remember, just because the water in a botanical-influenced aquarium system is brownish, it doesn't mean that it's of low quality, or "dirty", as we're inclined to say. It simply means that tannins, humic acids, and other substances are leaching into the water, creating a characteristic color that some of us geeks find rather attractive. If you're still concerned, monitor the water quality...perform a nitrate test; look at the health of your animals. What's happening in there?

People ask me a lot if botanicals create "cloudy water" in their aquariums, and I have to give the responsible answer- yes. Of course they can!

If you place a large quantity of just about anything that can decompose in water, the potential for cloudy water caused by a bloom of bacteria exists. The reality is, if you don't add 3 pounds of botanicals to your 20 gallon tank, you're not likely to see such a bloom. It's about logic, common sense, and going slowly.

For that matter, plain old dirt and dust bound up in and on the surface tissues of many botanicals will be released, despite our best efforts at preparing them for use. Some stuff simply leaches into the water.

And the fact that many of us tend to not to use a lot of chemical filtration media in our tanks might have some impact on that, too. 

 It's also become a sort of "thing" now to use the formerly unthinkable "sedimented" substrate materials, which will, by their very composition, impart some cloudiness into the water for a few days or more after they're submerged. Because you don't rinse them like you would more traditional substrates, the cloudiness which inevitably occur is simply part of the process.

This is typically a temporary cloudiness, and will subside over time. It's not something that will forever haunt your aquarium, trust me.

Another reason for this haziness is biological. 

Often, you'll experience a burst of microorganism/bacterial growth, which impacts the visual clarity as populations multiply rapidly in the "fertile" environment of a botanical system, with its wealth of organic materials supplied by the decomposing matter upon which these life forms feed.

And then there is what we call "infusoria."

One only need reflect on the classic "infusoria" cultures which every fish breeder can recall from his/her experiences- they're really cloudy! Remember, infusoria is a collective term for aquatic organisms like euglenoids, unicellular algae, ciliates, protozoa, etc.

In modern formal biological classification, the term "infusoria" is considered an antiquated, obsolete descriptor, as most of the organisms previously included in the collective term "Infusoria" are assigned to a different assemblage of taxonomic groups.

Nonetheless, it's a charming, albeit somewhat antiquated term that is still used in aquarium circles to describe the tiny organisms that arise when you soak some blanched lettuce, vegetable skin, or other plant matter in a jar of water. Or, when dried botanical materials are submerged in water!

Depending upon the density of the amount of materials and the population of the organisms in play, you could expect to see considerable cloudiness...

Now, I have placed a few drops of tank water under a microscope early in the life of several botanical-style tanks over the years, and I did see some microorganisms swimming around in there.

Of course, I am not a microbiologist, and for me to make any conclusive statements about "density" or "diversity" of the life forms I saw swimming around in my samples is a bit too amateurish! That being said, in most of these samples, I saw a fair amount of "some sort" of life forms swimming around in the water! 

Generally, I've found that the sort of "cloudiness" will typically clear after a week or two, as the "tug of war" between bacteria and "infusoria" achieves a sort of "equilibrium."

And, as mentioned above, the cloudiness could also be caused, at least in part- by the dissolving of the botanicals themselves. When you think about it, most plant parts, such as seed pods and such, are comprised of materials such as lignin, cellulose, etc., and their constituent sugars, starches, etc. And, because of this composition, will release these materials into the water column. This can happen over time, too..sort of becoming a "new normal" for your botanical-style aquarium.

Of course the idea of "cloudiness", in general, may be a "tip off" to some other issues in the aquarium. And, as we all know, cloudiness can usually be caused by a few factors:

1) Improperly cleaned substrate or decorative materials, such as driftwood, etc. (creating a "haze" of micro-sized dust particles, which float in the water column).

2) Bacterial blooms (typically caused by a heavy bioload in a system not capable of handling it. Ie; a new tank with a filter that is not fully established and a full compliment of livestock).

3) Algae blooms which can both cloud AND color the water (usually caused by excessive nutrients and too much light for a given system).

4) Poor husbandry, which results in heavy decomposition, and more bacterial blooms and biological waste affecting water clarity. This is, of course, a rather urgent matter to be attended to, as there are possible serious consequences to the life in your system.

And, curiously enough, the "remedy" for "cloudy water" in virtually every situation is similar: Water changes, use of chemical filtration media (activated carbon, etc.), reduced light (in the case of algal blooms), improved husbandry techniques (i.e.; better feeding practices and more frequent maintenance), and, perhaps most important- the passage of time.

I like the "passage of time" part best.

Now, with the "cloudiness" caused by our "technique" or application of botanicals is a slightly different story. These are sort of "natural consequences" of what we do..

Now, you could intervene in this if you wanted to...Performing larger water exchanges, employing chemical/very fine mechanical filtration media, etc. Personally, I have learned over the years NOT to let this stuff phase me. I suppose I'm so deep in my own "mindset" about letting Nature do its thing, that I don't do much to combat it...

Once this initial "microbial haze phase" passes, there are other aspects to the water clarity which will continue to emerge. And I think that these aspects are similar to what we observe in Nature.

For example, I've noticed that in many of my aquariums, particularly those with certain types of wood (like mangrove, Melastoma root, "Borneo Root", etc.), you'll get more of this "patina" to the water. Again, I'm in the realm of speculation here, but I can't help but wonder if certain wood and botanical materials/leaves have a greater content of organic materials (or more readily release these materials into the water because of their structure), lignin, tannins, etc.

One of my friends calls this "flavor", and his moniker makes sense, when you think about it!

And I think that this is a really interesting phenomenon, which is distinctive to our botanical-stye blackwater/brackish aquariums. To accept it is a choice, and it definitely requires the adoption of a mental shift to appreciate that this is very similar to what we see in many of the natural aquatic systems that we attempt to replicate.

In Nature, the accumulations of decomposing plant materials, leaves, soils, and sediments all contribute to this cloudiness or turbidity of the water. In our aquariums, it's pretty much the same.

Yes, I understand that an aquarium is NOT an open, natural system, and that there are fundamental differences between the two.

However, to see some of the processes, aesthetics, and what we call "functional analogies" (i.e.; the way materials break down, re-distribute within the tank, and how the aesthetics and water chemistry are affected by water exchanges, etc.) take place in our aquariums, we can't help but think that we're "on to something" here.

What happens in the wild often happens in the aquarium- if we let it play out.

(Image by Aquariumaniak Khizanishvili- a master of the "dirty" aquarium!)

So, yeah, our aquariums may NOT have the "crystal-clear", colorless water which many hobbyists envision when they think of what an aquarium "should" look like. Yet, with the continued, evolving work which our community is doing, we'll continue to discuss/analyze/debate the merits of such clarity profiles in our systems.

Nature- our muse and inspiration for everything we do- provides unlimited examples of elegant, healthy, well-balanced aquatic habitats which look quite contrary to what have come to expect as hobbyists over the years.

As we've discussed a lot lately, we're absolutely obsessed with the natural processes and aesthetics of decomposing materials in our aquariums. And of course, this comes with the requirement of us to accept some unique characteristics, of course!

We have taken our first tentative footsteps beyond what has long been accepted and understood in the hobby, and are starting to ask new question, make new observations, and yeah- even a few discoveries- which will evolve the aquarium hobby in the future.

So, there may be "clouds" in your tank, but defintely NOT on the hobby's "horizon!"

Stay curious. Stay observant. Stay engaged. Stay bold...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics