The Tint

It's kind of my fault...An essay on the power of words, and the need to think more...

Words matter, don't they?

Okay, I have a confession to make: I think I should have never coined the term "Botanical-Style Aquarium" to describe the approach that we take to our aquariums. A lot of people are under the impression that this is some style of aquascaping our tanks.

It's not a "style" of aquascaping.

I think it's kind of my fault. The confusion, that is.

I suppose that I can explain a bit. I mean, it was important for me to "put down a marker" a few years back to explain what makes this approach different than other, more "conventional" methodologies to create and operate aquariums. I mean, we introduce botanical materials into our aquariums to help build out the physical, ecological, and chemical environment in which our fishes live.

So I tried to "quantify" it with a name.

I guess it made sense at the time.

However, the problem is that I used the word "style" as part of the descriptor...And that seems to imply that this is a "style" of "aquascaping" an aquarium- the exact thing I didn't want to do! And the term has sorta stuck.

Yet, it's so much more than a "style", isn't it? 

Yes, it is. It's a methodology.

An approach to creating and managing a specialized aquatic ecosystem within the aquarium, for the benefit of the fishes which are accustomed to these types of habitats in Nature. Perhaps it should be called the "botanical-method aquarium?" Well, that doesn't sound as sexy. There must be a better way to say it? A word that's less open to (mis)interpretation? Likely.

And yet, I used the damn word, "style"- arghhghhghhhhh!😂

The idea...is, and always was, to look at Nature differently than we have in the past as aquarists. It's a fundamental shift in how we keep aquariums. For way, way too many years, the hobby has preached a sort of "edited" or "sanitized" version of Nature. 

Aquarium hobby "doctrine" has implored us to keep things "clean" and to discourage the accumulations of organic detritus, to remove decomposing materials, keep our water crystal clear and "invisible", and to vilify and remove algae whenever it appears.

Speaking of "Nature", it's another term that we in the hobby seem to have appropriated for whatever suits us...and it's confusing, too.

The term "Nature", like "style" seems to be interpreted differently by different people in the hobby, and it's important to understand this. Words do matter, right? Or, perhaps how we interpret words matters...

The problem with using the term "Nature", as I see it, is that we have engaged in sort of selectively picking and choosing what our hobby culture considers the "good" parts of Nature, and editing, downplaying, and resisting those which don't fit the "guidelines" set by the hobby hegomony.

Okay, perhaps I'm being a bit harsh. But it's for a reason.

Consider this:

Over the century or so of the modern hobby, a lot of hobbyists and authors have espoused embracing of natural process and have sung the praises of algae; stuff like that. I'm glad they have. However, the modern "successful aquarium", as currently presented to us in books, magazine articles, and social media, is almost always depicted as this perfectly manicured, scrupulously clean box full of water.

Sort of not exactly "natural"- or is it? A strange dichotomy.

And props to the late Takashi Amano, who, in his early essays, encouraged us to embrace this stuff when we create aquairums...only to have, IMHO "popular aquarium culture" grab and run with the "art part" of his equation at the exclusion of almost all else, conveniently assigning many of Nature's most compelling natural processes to the metaphorical "dustbin", while celebrating symmetry, color grouping, wood placement, and weirdly-named rock selection instead.

Tragic, IMHO. 

Let's be more precise and thoughtful when we use words like "natural" to describe our tanks.

********

(Random "Micro rant" alert...):

And don't even start me on the latest aquascaping craze of gluing pieces of wood to rocks...I mean, what about gravity and...patience? Like, find the right rock and wood! I know, everyone hates me for criticizing this practice but, damn.. If it were done to create something that actually looks natural, I'd maybe be more on board with it... You can do weird, natural-looking stuff with skillful application of wood to rocks...But glue? Really? And, do you see some of the stuff people do when they glue rocks and wood together? It's weird, and much of it hardly looks "natural" to me. Maybe in "middle earth" or wherever aquascaping contest judges live, this is "natural", but...

Like, what planet did that shit "form" on? 

Okay, enough.

"Micro rant" over.

********

Back to my screwup. 

"Botanical -Style" aquarium...

Arghhhhhh...😂

WTF was I thinking?

I can't help but feel like, by invoking "style", I contributed to the ongoing elevation of fluff over substance in the hobby.

Yeah, it seems to be an aesthetics over everything world in the hobby right now, which is why the terms "aquascaping" and "style" tend to evoke weird reactions in me. But that's just me, and who am I to tell the world how to play? However, it is annoying to me. 😆  Especially when people consistently use the terms "Nature" or "natural" to describe their decidedly unnatural, primarily artistic works. Just because you have plants and fish in your tank doesn't mean it's a depiction of "Nature" as it is. 

Yet, year after year, you see the latest aquascaping contest winners, often consisting of aquatic moss-bedecked, artificially-constructed "Bonsai trees" in some highly stylized underwater diorama, being lauded by the world as "an incredible "natural aquarium!"

A lot of art and not as much "Nature", IMHO. Now, there is nothing wrong with the executions. They're brilliant and skillful. And the aquarium world lauds that...but that's not all.

Anything departing from that "prototype" seems to have been systematically discouraged, frowned upon, and even vilified by parts of the aquarium community.  The problem is that the general public, who might be keenly unaware of the realities of what a natural aquatic habitat, sees these works, which are labeled as "natural"-only to perhaps never see what "unedited" Nature actually looks like.

And, to an outsider like me, it looks like the "Nature" part of Nature has become almost an annoyance, while celebrating the teachings of Mr. Amano...a strange dichotomy. The reality is that, to Mr.. Amano, Nature was the whole fucking game...

He was right. 

And then along came us.

I won't ever compare myself or Tannin to Mr. Amano; all we did was pick up the ball and run with the idea that natural processes should be studied, understood, exhaulted and celebrated, not polished out and edited to fit conveniently into our idea of what Nature should look like. If I'm nothing else, I'm the advocate for "do Nature more naturally.."

And we should be excited by this stuff: Decomposition, sediment, fungal growths, biofilms, tinted water, food-webs, and turbidity. They occur for a reason. They are part of the process and function of Nature. They impart a certain look to things, and we should accept and anticipate this as part of the "aesthetics" of this type of approach. I mean, all of those things found in the wild-happening in your own aquarium!

So, what about botanicals?

The idea of utilizing botanicals in the aquarium can be whatever you want, sure. However, if you ask me (and you likely didn't)- the idea of utilizing these materials in our tanks was to create environmental conditions and foster a biome of organisms which work together to form a closed microcosm. That is incredible to me.

It's the challenge off our times in the hobby, IMHO:

To create aquariums which, in function and form, replicate many of the wild natural aquatic habitats that we find so compelling, as closely as possible. As I've said a lot lately, the "look" is only part of the equation. In reality, the best part of the aesthetics come as a collateral result of the function of these processes...A tough way to interpret it, I know, but it's the reality we embrace.

And then there is this "blackwater aquarium" thing, and throwing botanicals into our tanks to influence the aquatic environment in the hopes of creating "blackwater." I hope we haven't added to the enormous body of lousy information that's out there on this subject. 

We might have.

First off, as I say virtually every time we talk about it, this is not a "new" concept. We had nothing to do with the "invention" of the practice. Hobbyists have been tossing in leaves and such into aquariums for many years to initiate breeding and facilitate health of some challenging fishes.  We came along and elevated the approach, studied the process, and celebrated the function, in addition to the "look." We're likely the loudest voice on this stuff right now- but no one "invented" this practice.

Maybe we played some role in this recent "awakening" of interest in this stuff; however, the whole concept of utilizing these materials to create not only healthy chemical environments for our fishes, but to create aesthetically fascinating, remarkably faithful replications of wild habitats is being given some new life thanks to the work of a global community of hobbyists- YOU!

Thankfully, the idea of blackwater aquariums being seen as a "side show" curiosity is falling by the wayside, as hobbyists are utilizing these types of tanks to keep even fishes which have been with us for decades, and achieving remarkable results...and discovering a new aesthetic and enjoyment in the process. 

And of course, there is a lot of misunderstanding about what blackwater actually is.

Black waters typically are rather acidic-more so than the typically more neutral "white waters", although color is absolutely NOT an indicator of pH. This has been confounded and confused in the hobby for years and years. "Blackwater"refers to  the color, sure- but more than just that. It's about a specific set of chemical characteristics.

The major difference between "blackwater" and "whitewater" is the lower concentration of magnesium, sodium, potassium, and calcium ions present.  Those major ions are very low in black waters. And  the concentration of humic and fulvic acids...most of which are present as a result of the geology and soils of the surrounding terrestrial environment- are not strictly from leaves and wood and such, as we have played with in our aquaria historically. 

And of course, this lack of certain major ions has some ecological implications, right? Like, it's why you don't find a lot of shrimp, crustaceans, and mullusks in blackwater habitats. It's hard to build a up a calcareous shell in the absence of calcium, right?

Yeah.

In the podzol soil where blackwater originates, most of the of the extractable substances in the surface litter layer are humic acids, typically coming from decaying plant material. Scientists have concluded that greater input of plant litter leads to greater input of humic substances into ground water. In other words, those leaves that accumulate on the substrate are putting out significant amounts of humic acids, as we've talked about previously!

And although humic substances, like fulvic acid, are found in both blackwater and clear water habitats, the organic detritus (you know, from leaves and such) in blackwater contains more extractable fulvic acid than in clearwater  habitats, as one might suspect!

The Rio Negro, for example, contains mostly humic acids, indicating that suspended sediment selectively adsorbs humic acids from black water.  The low concentration of suspended sediments in rivers like the Rio Negro is one of the main reasons why high concentrations of humic acids are maintained. With little to no suspended sediment, there is no "adsorbent surface" (other than the substrate of the river, upon which these acids can be taken hold of (adsorb).

This contributes to why blackwater has the color that it does, too. Blackwater in the Amazon basin is colored reddish-brown. Why? Well, it has  those organic compounds dissolved in it, of course. 

There's a lot more to it than this, but you get the idea, I hope.

And the lower pH levels that we all seem to want to target so badly require more understanding than just, "What do I add to my tank to get 5.6?" We need to study and educate ourselves on this stuff. And some of the reading we need to do is dry and perhaps challenging. However, if we don't do some of this work, we will continue to propagate (unintentionally) misinformation on the subject.

Some of the most common questions we receive here at Tannin are things like, "How much _______ do I need to get my water to look like________?" or "How much_______ is needed to lower the pH in my tank?" Or, "How much do I need to get a good amount of humic substances and tannins into my aquarium?"

Good questions. However, I usually respond with a simple, "I don't know."

These are all really good questions. Logical. Important. Yet, I kind of feel like many hobbyists are looking for a plug-and-play "formula" or "recipe" for how to achieve certain, completely predictable parameters using leaves or whatever. I totally get that. But the reality is...there IS no "recipe" for how to do this stuff at the moment.

And it sucks, I know.

And the pH thing? Again, we need to educate ourselves a bit; not just read third-hand suppositions from a guy on a Facebook group who heard that "you can't do_____" or from the vendor on e-Bay telling you that his Alder Cones "help create blackwater", etc.

Learn about basic water chemistry if you're into this idea of extremely low pH tanks. Peruse studies of natural blackwater environments and understand what influences are responsible for them. It's less easy to digest than the sexy Instagram Stories post  by "cichlidboy456" on his "blackwater tank", but it's the stuff you need to know to really understand this stuff.

We've talked a lot about the many cautions and even "myths" surrounding keeping fishes in low-pH environments. We've learned that by simply not being afraid because "they" have made them seem so scary and unmanageable for years. Rather, we're revisiting these parameters and trying to learn exactly what happens in them, and what we need know to mange them in our tanks.

It's been scientifically documented that humic substances contained in blackwater environments are essential to the health of almost all fishes, and that they enable fishes to live in these low pH habitats. We're starting to discover that creating a low pH aquarium is entirely possible and straightforward manage, if one learns the dynamics. Much like the previous generations' discoveries about the aquarium "functionality" of African Rift Lake habitats and coral reefs, we're discovering that these are simply different types of environments which can be replicated and managed long term in the aquarium.

It's not "scary"- it's just different.

Our understanding of the nitrogen cycle and the toxicity of ammonia versus ammonium, and the importance of "stability within a range" is starting to yield some results. I firmly believe that the next few years will bring about significant change-and even breakthroughs- in the way we as a hobby manage, care for, and spawn fishes which have long been though problematic and difficult because of their specialized low-pH habitats.

It's as much about accepting a different way of thinking as it is about actually learning what's going on and attempting to replicate the function of these unique habitats.  

Mental shifts.

It's always been there for us to examine...These wild habitats. We've just been approaching replicating them with a jaded mindset. Now, we're looking at them for what they are, the benefits they provide our fishes, and just how to replicate them properly in the aquarium. And that is a HUGE leap that is happening right now...with YOU! 

Now, let me burst one final "bubble" before I call it a day here.

We hear everyone talk about "imparting tannins" into our aquarium water by using all sorts of botanicals and such. Cool...and sort of vague. 

I think that we need to be realistic with our expectations about what information we can glean from our experiments.

First off, there is currently no practical and easy "off the shelf" way, short of some pretty intense scientific testing on individual specimens of various botanicals- to know exactly how much of what color-producing and pH-reducing tannins, humic substances, etc. are bound up in the tissues of a given botanical item.

I mean, I am sure there is a legitimate way to test batches of leaves and botanicals of a specific size, for example, and come up with an average quantity (in what measure, I wouldn't be certain) of how much of "what" compounds are present.

There are ways to test for concentrations of tannin in water.

For example, the "Stiasny method", in which "a 100 mg of sample tannins are dissolved in 10 ml distilled water. 1 ml of 10M HCl and 2 ml of 37% formaldehyde are added and the mixture heated under reflux for 30 min. The reaction mixture is filtered while hot through a sintered glass filter. The precipitate is washed with hot water (5x 10 ml) and dried over CaCl₂. The yield of tannin is expressed as a percentage of the weight of the starting material." Straightforward for a scientist in a lab, exceedingly difficult for the average hobbyist. 

And what are you starting the test with?

"Sample tannins" means what, in our context? Sounds discouraging, at first. Now, the good news is that there are actually test kits out there to do it. Hach, for example, makes a Tannin/Lignin test kit! And I think that will be a good starting point for many of those interested in finding out just what's going on in their aquarium.

Knowing that you have a 20 US-gallon tank filled with RO/DI water, a non-buffering substrate, and "12 Magnolia leaves, 12 Catappa leaves of 3"-4", 12 Coco Curls of about 4" in size, and 20 small Alder cones"- or whatever, yielding a tannin reading of 15 mg/l of tannic acid in the water (or whatever) will at least help establish some sort of very crude, yet aquarium-relatable guidelines.

And we need a reference- a baseline comparison to natural waters, like the Rio Negro, Atabapo, etc. for these numbers to have any real meaning, IMHO. Sure, I have studied the water chemistry composition of some major blackwater rivers based on work done in scholarly research, and much of this data is based on things we could test for in the aquarium (like TDS, pH, dissolved metals, conductivity, etc.), but something like "fulvic acid expressed as mg/l" is not something we've seen.

Now, if some of my friends and colleagues who travel to regions like the Amazon and other blackwater habitats invest in one of these $160 tannin test kits, run some samples and record tests from various sites and at different times of the year, etc. we could likely at least have a baseline for the concentrations of tannins in natural water- another target we can shoot for when trying to replicate natural conditions!

Of course, even knowing that, there are problems.

First off, just knowing "how much tannins" are in a sample of natural water, although helpful, is simply a starting point. And if we did have numbers of how much of this stuff is bound up in the tissues of the various leaves, pods, etc., -while interesting to know- it's really not all that useful when we really don't have a guideline as to how much of what specific compound or compounds are needed to create the specific effects we are looking for in our aquariums!

And of course, even knowing that- would this be based on how much of _______ you need to achieve a pH reduction, or tannin/humic substance ppm of _______ in a given sample of RO/DI water with a starting pH, TDS, and KH of...what?

And there are hundreds of tannins. Which ones are present in natural blackwater ecosystems and can be introduced into aquariums by adding botanicals? 

Damn. Not easy, huh?

Oh, and being natural items, wouldn't the levels of these compounds within the leaf or seed pod tissues themselves vary from batch to batch, season to season, and be affected by preparation, age of the materials, how they are stored, etc. etc., etc?

See?

Vague. And challenging.

We can't fool ourselves; it's still early days in our understanding of this stuff. A grand experiment. I'm focusing a lot more on geology and aquairum substrates lately to help facilitate more "auntehtic" blackwater conditions than I am on botanicals and leaves, because that's how it works in Nature. We can't delude ourselves here. There is much to learn still.

So, if I've made any "argument" here, it's that this stuff is every bit as much of an "art"- in terms of aquarium keeping- as it is a "science." We will, at least for the foreseeable future, have to use the data we have available and formulate a "best guess" as to how much of what can give us some of the impacts we are interested in for our aquariums.

We as hobbyists and vendors simply can't authoritatively make blanket statements like, "You need to use "X" catappa leaves per gallon in order to recreate Rio Negro-like conditions in your aquarium!"  That's complete bullshit. When we use that kind of marketing hyperbole, we really are sort of shooting in the dark, and doing a great disservice to the hobby. We can simply admit that we need to observe, experiment, and celebrate the good results we achieve.

And that's certainly nothing to be discouraged about!

We, as a community, are getting deeper into the functional aspects of blackwater, botanical-style (😂) aquariums than ever before. More light is being shed on what's going on in both our aquariums and in the natural habitats we desire to replicate. We are learning more every day about how the presence of tannins and humic substances in our aquariums is affecting the health, longevity, and spawning behaviors of our blackwater fishes.

We're learning about the challenges and realities of managing blackwater systems over the long term- understanding the good, the bad, and the dangerous possibilities that are present when we experiment with these ideas.

Like everything else, just contemplating these things leads to more questions than answers, but it shows you how much more there is for us as hobbyists to learn and understand, particularly from the wild habitats. Watching our fishes and observing OUR aquariums creates unique opportunities to break away from the dangerous "groupthink" that has, in my opinion, held the hobby back in recent years.

Keeping an open mind and gently questioning "why" stuff is in our hobby will help us move beyond any previous restrains we have had.

"Style?"

Nah. 

It's an approach. A methodology. An experiment.

And it does result in some cool-looking tanks...

But definitely not a "style" in the typical sense. 

So, yeah, the word "style" is my cross to bear. Sorry about that. I'll do my best to stop using that...😆

Or, maybe not?

Yeah...Someone forwarded the definition of the word "style" as defined by Merriam-Webster:

"...a particular manner or technique by which something is done, created, or performed."

So, we don't necessarily have HAVE to lose the term "style"- we just have to think about it in a different manner. Words do matter, don't they?

Clean ending to a long discussion, huh?

That works for me.

Stay thoughtful. Stay curious. Stay resourceful. Stay patient...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

Assumptions, variables, recommendations, and ideas...

The idea of utilizing botanicals in our aquariums to help create the ecology of the aquarium, as well as to impact its physical/chemical environment, is evolving rapidly. We are at that "phase" in our understanding where we are beginning to develop some best practices, experiment a bit more, question lots of stuff...and make the occasional assumption or two.

Or more.

For example, I've long had a theory that it might be beneficial to have several different types of botanical materials in your tank. Not for aesthetics mind, you, but for other reasons.

My theory goes something like this:

Most plant products contain some similar compounds, such as tannins, mic substances, minerals, etc. However, I believe that many contain varying qualities of these substances, and based on the structure/durability of the specific botanical item, are released into the water at different rates as the materials break down.

And of course, there are likely other variables that no doubt come into the equation, such as how a specific botanical was prepared. How dry it actually was before immersion, the conditions under which the mother plant the botanical came from was growing under, the time of year it was harvested, etc., etc., etc.

I mean, it's a theory...an assumption of sorts. 

However, I think it makes some sense, right?

I mean, botanists know that specific plants and their leaves contain varying amounts of tannins and other compounds. Especially, leaves. Think about it. Some leaves may have greater concentrations of these substances than others, and thusly, are potentially more "potent" for our purposes...right? And at different times of year, this can likely vary. And therefore, it could make using certain leaves more effective than others at different times.

Well, yeah, in theory, huh?

The reality of this is that we simply don't have all of the answers...or even all of the questions to ask to get the answers! We simply have to experiment.

We have to try stuff.

And, one could take it further with my theory and sort of speculate that, with the potential variations in (desired) compounds in various botanicals, that using a variety in one situation sort of covers a number of possibilities at once.

Since I started playing with leaves and such, years ago, I've always sort of acted upon a leap of faith; a theory about what exactly they do. And this sort of tempted my work with them over the years. When I initially started, I was a bit hesitant, scared, even, of somehow poisoning my fishes and "crashing" my tanks. 

However, it stood to reason that if some of these materials (leaves, seed pods, etc) are present in natural aquatics habitats around the world without killing fishes en masse, it would be perfectly okay to use them in an aquarium...right?

Well, yes. And no. 

I mean, many of the materials that we have are not the exact botanical items found in every steam or river around the world. They are representative in many cases- facsimiles of what is found in Nature. I mean, oak leaves are not found in Southeast Asia, right? 

However, they accomplish the same thing that an Astrocaryum or Ceiba leaf might in its native territory, right?

That's what I've theorized over the years...

And happily, it kind of worked out that way. As I experimented with more and more stuff, and saw very positive results with my fishes, I felt pretty confident that something beneficial was occurring as a result of adding this stuff to my aquariums!

There were, and continue to be- questions. And assumptions. Some which we simply have to make at this point, because we just don't have all of the information necessary to state with absolute certainty what is "correct."

Now, one could assume that the leaves and other parts of the plant which find their way into natural waters might contain varying combinations of certain compounds, thus releasing different amounts proportionally into the water...However,  the essential "function" of any given leaf or seed pod breaking down in water is the same around the world, right?

Probably...I mean, likely...right? I mean, they're all essential "constructed" of the same stuff, and posses many of the same compounds in their structures, like lignin, etc... perhaps the concentrations vary, or the presence of certain other substances could be different in different botanical materials, but...

Urghhh!

And of course, there are other variables to consider.

I mean, in a natural water course, you typically have more water volume than the average home aquarium, and it's an open ecosystem, with inputs from and outputs to, the surrounding environment, creating dilution. An aquarium is a closed system, and input/export to and from the environment is largely dependent upon us (the fish geeks) to control. And of course, being closed systems, it's at least theoretically possible to "over-dose" our tanks with "stuff", isn't it?

Well, in terms of biological impact, at least. 

We need to allow the microorganisms and other creatures to multiply to sufficient populations to be able to handle the influx of new materials. Simple as that.

Our aquariums likely can biologically and chemically assimilate and process only so much material, right?  Sure. I mean, we've seen cases where over-zealous "tinters" have seen fishes gasping at the surface because they added too much stuff to their tanks too quickly, and the CO2 level rose rapidly as a result.

Yeah. Stuff like that. 

Although it's likely that the compounds present in the botanical materials are not sufficient in concentration and of themselves to do harm to fishes, the impact of adding them to our tanks is probably more "biological" in nature. In other words, they impact the biological capacity of the aquarium.

And that's likely how the "You need to use 'X' number of Catappa leaves per liter of water" recommendations that we hear of  came about.

Trial and error...and (hopefully) conservative experiments.

I mean, I hate "rules" like that, specifically for natural materials which no doubt have varying levels of the compounds that we're interested in, based on so many possible factors...But it's a starting point, I guess.

Until a sophisticated scientific assay of every leaf, every seed pod, and every type of wood that we utilize in aquariums is completed, determining average concentrations of _________ In a given sample size, "dosing" recommendations are just that...Recommendations.

Possibilities.

Theories.

Assumptions. 

Recommendations.

A starting point.

And that's okay, because this is a hobby. An art as much as it is a science.

Of course, the big idea is not to assume too much. 

Rather, it's to research, experiment. Test, evaluate. Observe. Adjust. Rinse and repeat.

Sometimes, it's okay to assume...

Just not too much!

Today's little lesson in putting things into perspective in our tinted world.

Stay curious. Stay analytical. Stay fascinated. Stay focused...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics

My Fave fish for botanical-style aquariums: Some long-overdue thoughts- Part 1 of many?

Of all of the topics we cover here in "The Tint", the one we discuss the least (rather shockingly, I might add) is the fishes that we keep in our tanks! Yeahs, I talk more about fungi, sediments, decomposition, and leaf litter than I do about fishes...

And of course, when someone hit me up the other day and asked, "Scott, what are your favorite fishes for botanical-style aquariums?" I was like, "Well, shit- I never even covered that!" I mean, we should have covered that before. It's a cool topic. I'm kind of unsure why, actually.

Probably because most of the articles on this topic are kind of...oh, crap, I'll say it- just boring. Ever read one of those "Top 10" listicle thingys about fishes? They usually-well, suck. Harsh, but they're kind of boring, IMHO. I mean, they talk about the size of the fish, what it eats, and what size tank you can keep it in. I mean, helpful, but..I dunno. Boring. Stuff you can pretty much find in any aquarium-related reference. You don't come here for that, I hope... So, we'll try to cover these fishes from "a slightly different perspective", as I like to say.

So, let's hit that topic today! Okay, let's hit some of it today...my list is longer than my patience to discuss them all in one piece! And I'll try my best not to do it the boring way...

Oh, damn, I might have a bunch of fishes...but I don't think I'm gonna cover all of them today...

Give me a break- it's a start, right?

Now, here's the thing- you'll find that my fish choices are as much based upon  the habitats that they come from as they are about the fishes themselves..

Okay, so let's get this party started...

In no particular order ( well, maybe in a sort of order..):

Sailfin Characin (Crenuchus spilurus)

We've all had that ONE fish which just sort of occupies a place in our hearts and minds- a fish that-for whatever reason- bites you and never lets go, right? I think that every serious aquarist has at least one such a fish..

Here's mine...

Of course, it's also about the habitat which this fish lives in that's kept me under its spell for so long...

As a lover of leaf-litter in our natural, botanical-style aquariums, I am fascinated not only by this unique ecological niche, but by the organisms which inhabit it. I've went on and on and spoken at length about many of the microorganisms, fungi, insects, and crustaceans which add to the diversity of this environment. And of course, we've looked at some of the fishes which live there, too! Perhaps not enough, actually...

One of my all-time favorite fishes- and my absolute favorite characin is none other than the amazing "Sailfin Tetra", Crenuchus spilurus!  This is a truly awesome fish- not only is it attractive and morphologically cool-looking, it has a great demeanor and behaviors which separate it from almost every other characin out there! 

I first fell for this fish as a kid, when I saw a cool pic of it in my dad's well-worn copy of William T. Innes' classic book, Exotic Aquarium Fishes. The book that pretty much assured me from toddler days that I'd be a fish geek. I obsessed over the book before I could even read...

I was hooked from the start with Crenuchus, especially when reading about the romantic etymology of the name!  And it just seemed so "mysterious" and unattainable, even in the 1930's...well, especially back in the 1930's, but it seemed downright exotic! To this day, it's one you just don't see too much of in the hobby. And then, tying it together with my love of those leaf-litter-strewn habitats, it was a combo which I couldn't resist!

I never got this fish out of my system, and it took me like 30-plus years of being a fish geek to find this fish in real life. And, you know that I jumped at the chance..It was so worth the wait!

It's almost "cichlid-like" in behavior: Intelligent, interactive, and endearing. It has social behaviors which will entertain and fascinate those who are fortunate enough to keep it.

Now, I admit, it's definitely NOT the most colorful characin on the planet. But there is more than this fish than meets the eye.

It all starts with its most intriguing name...

The Latin root of the genus Crenuchus means "Guardian of The Spring"- a really cool, even romantic-sounding name which evokes imagery-and questions! Does it mean the "protector" of a body of water, or some honorary homage to everyone's favorite season? Not sure, but you must agree that the name is pretty cool! In greek, it's krenoychos -"The God of running waters."

Yeah. That's the shit. I mean, do Latin names get any cooler than that?

The Crenuchidae (South American Darters) is a really interesting family of fishes, and includes 93 species in 12 genera throughout the Amazon region. Most crenuchids are- well, how do we put it delicately- "chromatically challenged" ( ie; grey-black-brown) fishes, which tend to lie in wait near the substrate (typically leaf litter or aggregations of branches), feeding on insects and micro invertebrates. And the genus Crenuchus consists of just one species, our pal Crenuchus spilurus, a fish which shares habits and a body shape that are more commonly associated with Cyprinids and...cichlids!

That's just weird.

Now, the relatively subdued coloration serves a purpose, of course. These fishes live among leaf litter, root tangles, and botanical debris..in tinted water...which demand (if you don't want to be food for bigger fishes and birds) some ability to camouflage yourself effectively. 

The Sailfin is an exception to the "drab" thing, and it's remarkably attractive for a very "simple" benthic-living fish. Sure, on the surface, it's not the most exciting fish out there, especially when it's a juvenile...but it's a fish that you need to be patient with; a fish to search for, collect, hold onto, and enjoy as it matures and grows. As the fish matures, in true "ugly duckling"🐥  style, it literally "blossoms" into a far more attractive fish.

The males have an extended dorsal and anal fin, and are larger and more colorful than females. Yes, colorful is relative here, but when you see a group- you'll notice the sexual dimorphism right away, even among juveniles.

Individuals spend a lot of their time sheltered under dead leaves, branches, roots, and aquatic plants. They tend to "hover", and don't dart about like your typical Tetra would. In fact, their behavior reminds me of the Dartfishes of the marine aquarium world...They sort of sit and flick their fins, often moving in slow, deliberate motions. Communication? Perhaps.

The Sailfin feeds during the daylight hours, and spends much of its day sheltering under branches, leaves, and root tangles, and is a mid-water feeder, consuming particulate organic matter, such as aquatic invertebrates, insects, bits of flowers, and fruits- the cool food items from outside of the aquatic environment that form what ecologists call allochthonous input-materials from outside of the aquatic habitat, which are abundant in the terrestrial habitats surrounding the aquatic ones which we love to model our aquariums after.

Tucano Tetra (Tucanoichthys tucano)

You all know by now that my philosophy is to study and understand the environments from which our fishes come, and to replicate them in function and form as best as possible. It doesn't always mean exactly- but it's definitely NOT forcing them to adapt to our "local tap water "conditions without any attempt to modify them.

I have a very current  "case study" of my own that sort of reflects the execution of my philosophy.

As many of you know, I've had a long obsession with the idea of root tangles and submerged accumulations of leaves, branches, and seed pods. I love the silty, sedimented substrates and the intricate interplay of terrestrial plant roots with the aquatic environment.

I was doing a geeky "deep dive" into this type of habitat in Amazonia one evening, and stumbled upon this gem from a scientific paper by J. Gery and U. Romer in 1997:

"The brook, 80-200cm wide, 50-100 cm deep near the end of the dry season (the level was still dropping at the rate of 20cm a day), runs rather swiftly in a dense forest, with Ficus trees and Leopoldina palms...in the water as dominant plants. Dead wood. mostly prickly trunks of palms, are lying in the water, usually covered with Ficus leaves, which also cover the bottom with a layer 50-100cm thick. No submerse plants. Only the branches and roots of emerge plants provide shelter for aquatic organisms.

The following data were gathered by the Junior author Feb 21, 1994 at 11:00AM: Clear with blackwater influence, extremely acid. Current 0.5-1 mv/sec. Temp.: Air 29C, water 24C at more than 50cm depth... The fish fauna seems quite poor in species. Only 6 species were collected I the brook, including Tucanoichthys tucano: Two cichlids, Nannacara adoketa, and Crenicichla sp., one catfish, a doradid Amblydoras sp.; and an as yet unidentified Rivulus, abundant; the only other characoid, probably syncopic, was Poecilocharax weitzmani."

Yeah, it turned out to be the ichthyological description of the little "Tucano Tetra", Tucanoichthys tucano, and was a treasure trove of data on both the fish and its habitat. I was taken by the decidedly "aquarium reproducible" characteristics of the habitat, both in terms of its physical size and its structure. 

Boom! I was hooked.

I needed to replicate this habitat! And how could I not love this little fish? I even had a little aquarium that I had been dying to work with for a while. 

It must have been "ordained" by the universe, right?

Now, I admit, I wasn't interested in, or able to safely lower the pH down to 4.3 ( which was one of the readings taken at the locale), and hold it there, but I could get the "low sixes" nailed easily! Sure, one could  logically call me a sort of hypocrite, because I'm immediately conceding that I won't do 4.3, and I suppose that could be warranted...

However, there is a far cry between creating 6.2pH for my tank, which is easy to obtain and maintain for me, and "force-fitting" fishes to adapt to our 8.4pH Los Angeles tap water! 

And of course, with me essentially trashing the idea of executing a hardcore 100% replication of such a specific locale, the idea was essentially to mimic the appearance and function of such an igarape habitat, replete with lots of roots and leaf litter.

And the idea of executing it in a nano-sized aquarium made the entire project more immediately attainable and a bit less daunting. I wanted to see if I could pull off a compelling biotope-inspired aquairum on a small scale.

That's where my real interest was.

So, even the "create the proper conditions for the fish instead of forcing them to adapt to what's easiest for us" philosophy can be nuanced! And it should! I don't want to mess with strong acids at this time. It's doable...a number of hobbyists have successfully.  However, for the purposes of my experiment, I decided to happily abstain for now, lol.

And without flogging a dead horse, as the horrible expression goes, I think I nailed many of the physical attributes of the habitat of this fish. By utilizing natural materials, such as roots, which are representative of those found in the fish's habitat, as well as the use of Ficus and other small leaves as the "litter" in the tank, I think we created a cool biotope-inspired display for these little guys!

And man, I love this tank!

Being able to pull off many aspects of the look, feel and function of the natural habitat of the fish was a really rewarding experience. A real "case study" for my philosophy of fish selection and stocking.  

Green Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon simulans)

Everyone knows the Neon Tetra, Paracheirodon inessi. It's a strong candidate for the title of "Official fish of the Aquarium Hobby!" Of course, there other members of the genus Paracheirodon which hobbyists have become enamored with, such as the diminutive, yet equally alluring P. simulans, the "Green Neon Tetra." Topping out at around 3/4" (about 2cm) in length, it's certainly deserving of the hobby label of "nano fish!"

You can keep these little guys in nice -sized aggregations..I wouldn't necessarily call them "schools", because, as our friend Ivan Mikolji beautifully observes, "In an aquarium P. simulans seem to be all over the place, each one going wherever it pleases and turning greener than when they are in the wild."

This cool little fish is one of my fave of what I call "Petit Tetras." Hailing from remote regions in the Upper Rio Negro and Orinoco regions of Brazil and Colombia, this fish is a real showstopper! According to ichthyologist Jacques Gery, the type locality of this fish is the Rio Jufaris, a small tributary of the Rio Negro in Amazonas State.

One of the rather cool highlights of this fish is that it is found exclusively in blackwater habitats. Specifically, they are known to occur in  habitats called "Palm Swamps"( locally known as "campos") in the middle Rio Negro. These are pretty cool shallow water environments! Interestingly, P. simulans doesn't migrate out of these shallow water habitats (less romantically called "woody herbaceous campinas" by aquatic ecologists) like the Neon Tetra (P. axelrodi) does. It stays to these habitats for its entire lifespan.

These "campo" habitats are essentially large depressions which do not drain easily because of the elevated water table and the presence of a soil structure, created by our fave soil, hydromorphic podzol! "Hydromorphic" refers to s soil having characteristics that are developed when there is excess water present all or part of the time. 

(Image by G. Durigan)

So, if you really want to get hardcore about recreating this habitat, you'd use immersion-tolerant terrestrial plants, such as Spathanthus unilateralis, Everardia montana, Scleria microcarpa, and small patches of shrubs such as Macairea viscosa, Tococa sp. and Macrosamanea simabifoli. And grasses, like Trachypogon. 

Of course, our fave palm,  Mauritia flexuosa and its common companion, Bactris campestris round out the native vegetation. Now, the big question is, can you find any of these plants? Perhaps...More likely, you could find substitutes. 

Just Google that shit! Tons to learn about those plants!

These habitats are typically choked with roots and plant parts, and the bottom is covered with leaves and fallen palm fronds...This is right up our alley, right?

Of course, if you really want to be a full-on "baller" and replicate the natural habitat of these fishes as accurately as possible, it helps to have some information to go on! So, here are the environmental parameters from these "campo" habitats based on a couple of studies I found:

The dissolved oxygen levels average around 2.1 mg/l, and a pH ranging from 4.7-4.3. KH values are typically less than 20mg/L, and the GH generally less than 10mg/L. The conductivity is pretty low. 

The water depth in these habitats, based on one study I encountered, ranged from as shallow as about 6 inches (15cm) to about 27 inches (67cm) on the deeper range. The average depth in the study was about 15" (38cm). This is pretty cool for us hobbyists, right? Shallow! I mean, we can utilize all sorts of aquariums and accurately recreate the depth of the habitats which P. simulans comes from!

We often read in aquarium literature that P. simulans needs fairly high water temperatures, and the field studies I found for this fish this  confirm this.

Average daily minimum water temperature of P. simulans habitats in the middle Rio Negro was about 79.7 F (26.5 C) between September and February (the end of the rainy season and part of the dry season). The average daily maximum water temperature during the same period averaged about 81 degrees F (27.7 C). Temperatures as low as 76 degrees' (24.6 C) and as high as 95 degrees F (35.2 C) were tolerated by P. simulans with no mortality noted by the researchers.

Bottom line, you biotope purists? Keep the temperature between 79-81 degrees F (approx. 26 C-27C).

Researchers have postulated that a thermal tolerance to high water temperatures may have developed in P. simulans as these shallow "campos" became its only real aquatic habitat.

The fish preys upon that beloved catchall of "micro crustaceans" and insect larvae as its exclusive diet. Specifically, small aquatic annelids, such as larvae of Chironomidae (hey, that's the "Blood Worm!") which are also found among the substratum, the leaves and branches. 

Now, if you're wondering what would be good foods to represent this fish's natural diet, you can't go wrong with stuff like Daphnia and other copepods. Small stuff makes the most sense, because of the small size of the fish and its mouthparts.

This fish would be a great candidate for an "Urban Igapo" style aquarium, in which rich soil, reminiscent of the podzols found in this habitat is use, along with terrestrial vegetation. You could do a pretty accurate representation of this habitat utilizing these techniques and substrates, and simply forgoing the wet/dry "seasonal cycles" in your management of the system.

There are a lot of possibilities here. 

One of the most enjoyable and effective approaches I've taken to keeping this fish was a "leaf litter only" system (which we've written about extensively here. Not only did it provide many of the characteristics of the wild habitat (leaves, warm water temperatures, minimal water movement, and soft, acidic water).

So, maybe you've noticed a pattern to my love of certain fishes...so much is based upon the habitats that they come from. My love for the fishes was amplified when I studied and learned more about the unique habitats from which each of these fishes come. The idea of recreating various aspects of the habitat as the basis for working with these fishes is irresistible to me!

Diptail or Brown Pencilfish (Nanostomus eques) 

This one really should have been the top choice if I were doing it in order. I LOVE everything about this fish. Well, almost everything.

Honestly, if a fish could earn the moniker "cool", this little guy would be it. It's absolutely not an overstatement to declare that these Pencilfishes have distinct personalities! They're not "mindless-drone, stupid schooling fishes", like some of the Tetras. (Sorry, my homies...Love ya' lots, but alas- you have no individual personalities...😂)

They are proud members of the family family Lebiasinidae. It was first described in 1876 by the legendary ichthyologist, Franz Steindachner. In fact, it was one of the first members of the genus Nanostomus to be discovered and described by science.

Cool, but that's not my main reason for loving this fish. There's a bunch of unique aspects to this fish's behavior which I find enormously compelling.

The Latin name of the species, eques, means "knight", "horseman", or "rider", in reference to this species’ unique oblique swimming angle. 

Ah, that "oblique swimming angle" thing. Yeah, they swim at an angle of about 45 degrees facing upwards. This angle is thought to give them an advantage in feeding. They see insects and such that fall from overhanging vegetation better than their horizontally-oriented buddies do. They get more food that way. Simple.

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

What I really love about these fish is that they are incredibly curious and obviously intelligent, checking out just about anything which goes on in their aquarium. You get the feeling when observing them that they are acutely aware of their surroundings, and once acclimated, are pretty much fearless. A fellow hobbyist once told me she thinks they're the freshwater equivalent of Pipefish...and that sounds about right..I agree with that 100%!

They're sociable, incredibly "chill" fish. Now, the thing about their ability to adeptly feed on allochthonous input into the aquatic environment makes them easy to feed. And it also gives you some clues as to the habitats they come from. Places where the food comes from the surrounding terrestrial environment. 

Foods from the surrounding environment, such as flowers, fruits, terrestrial insects, etc. These are extremely important foods for many fish species that live in these habitats. We mimic this process when we feed our fishes prepared foods, as stuff literally "rains from the sky!" Now, I think that what we feed to our fishes directly in this fashion is equally as important as how it's fed.

The environments which provide this food abundance also provide lots of opportunities to replicate in our aquariums. I love that about this fish. They come from really cool, really inspiring habitats.

They are also really adept at picking on epiphytic materials in their botanical-style aquariums. It's an observation I've made many times with these fish.

Yeah, they seem to spend a large amount of time picking at biofilm and other material adhering to botanicals, and specifically, wood. They engage in this activity almost constantly throughout the day (between feedings, of course!). I am convinced that they are likely not specifically targeting the biofilm directly; rather, I think that they're looking for tiny crustaceans and other life forms that live in the matrix.

Nonetheless, their picking distrubs the films and puts it into suspension, where it can more easily be removed by filtration. This was an unexpected "plus" of this most beloved group of fishes. Now, I must warn you, biofilm haters- you shouldn't even consider Pencilfishes as a biofilm "control mechanism", but I suppose that to you heathens, the "collateral benefit" is nice.

They are very aware, very adept feeders...Always ready to pounce. 

What's the thing I don't like about these fish?

Oh, they can be a bit skittish. Like, chill as they are, "stuff" just freaks them out.

They will, for seemingly no reason, launch themselves out of your open-top aquarium (well, those are the only types I keep...) with tremendous agility-sometimes landing a few inches away in the tank...Other times, completely leaving the tank, and well- usually this results in a very dried-out Pencilfish!

I guess the oblique swimming angle facilitates them reaching "escape velocity" rapidly. You get the feeling that they're always in "standby for launch!" mode. Like, full-on "defcon-5" mode.

Maybe, because they're always looking UP- the slightest disturbance from BELOW triggers a launch. I don't know, but it's as good a theory as any. And a 3-inch launch gets you away from a potential predator. A 6-inch launch lands you on the floor... Damn, a good adaptation for protection, this "launching" thing. But, like, who really wants to eat a Pencilfish, right? I guess the Pencilfish don't know that...They just jump. Millenia of genetic programming can't be overcome easily!

It sucks, but it's the downside to keeping them in open-top tanks. Lots of twisted branches and even floating plants DO help limit some of this "carpet surfing" behavior, but it's not a 100% perfect solution. I admit, These guys have, in the past played a central role in some of those "And then there were none" disappearing fish sagas that I've experienced over the years.

So, if you can keep them in a low- traffic area, employ lots of branches, and maybe some floating plants...maybe you'll avoid this.

I mean, these methods also occasionally work with Hatchetfishes...another fave of mine, but almost too suicidal, even for me. And that's why they are not in my top 10 list, if you're wondering..

Okay, I could probably do a top 10, or even a dozen- fave fishes, but I'd be writing all day on this topic. Honorable mention- The Checkerboard Cichlid (Dicrossus filamentosus)... My "go-to" cichlid for botanical-style tanks...I love them- even over Apistos...And, as one of my friends told me, "Of course you do Scott- they're fucking brown!" 

Damn, my friends really know me well, huh?

Just try them in your next botanical-style aquarium. You won't regret it.  Maybe we'll deep dive in the "Fellman style" on these guys next time...

Okay that's a start... I think I can safely employ the great line used by one of the aquarium hobby's great saltwater fish experts, Scott Michael, who, upon discussing such-and-such a fish would simply declare in a deadpan manner, "If you don't keep these fish, you're stupid.." 

How can you argue with THAT kind of assertion? I totally relate to that. Well, shit- you asked me what my faves are...you knew I'd have some strong feelings about them, huh? 😆

Anyhow, I hope this little start gives you a look into the unorthodox way I think about the fish I select for my aquariums: So much of it is about studying a habitat I love, and then researching what fishes are found in it- and why. Then, creating the habitat for them. Like, "habitat-first."  Totally works for me.

I hope it works for you too!

Until Next time...

Stay thoughtful. Stay curious. Stay bold. Stay diligent...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

New start. New approach.

One of the best things about not having a lot of tanks in operation at the moment (Wait, let's correct that...the ONLY good thing about not having a lot of tanks in operation at the moment...😆) is that it gives you the opportunity to plan, review, and plot your next moves. 

I'm in such a phase at home, with my house undergoing a substantial remodel and all of my "full-size" tanks in storage for a couple more months. As I've told you previously, it's given me the opportunity to play with a lot of ideas quickly in "nano-sized" aquariums. 

And of course, I've thought s lot about how I'm going to start up my next botanical-style tanks.

Here's an approach I'm trying on one of them. I call it the "transitional" approach.

Okay, we've tackled our "Urban Igapo" idea a bunch of times here, with the technique being described and studied quite a bit. Now, the repetition of wet and dry "seasonal cycles" in the aquarium, although fascinating and the most novel takeaway from this approach, is but one way to apply the idea of evolving a "dry forest floor" into an aquatic habitat.

This is one of the most incredible and fascinating ecological dynamics in Nature, and it's something that we as a hobby have not attempted to model to any extent, until we started messing around with the idea of replicating it around 2017. Again, we're not talking about replicating the 'look" of a flooded forest after it's been flooded...That has been done for years by hobbyists, particularly in biotope design contests. An "aquascaping" thing. 

This is a bit different. 

We're talking about actually replicating and flooding the damn forest floor! Replicating the cycle of inundation. It's a functional approach, requiring understanding, research, and patience to execute. And the aesthetics...They will follow, resembling what you see in Nature. But the primary reason is NOT for aesthetics... 

So, the way this would work is to simply set up the tank like our "standard" approach to creating an "Urban Igapo"- utilizing a sedimented substrate (um, yeah, we make one....) to create a "forest floor." And then, you add leaves, botanicals, and perhaps, some terrestrial grass seeds, and even riparian plants.

You'd set whatever "hardscape" you want- driftwood, etc. in place. Of course, you'd have to water your little forest floor for some period of time, allowing the vegetation to sprout and grow. Based on the many times of played with the "Igapo" idea, this process typically takes around 2-3 months to establish the growth well. 

And then what? Well, you'd flood it!

You could do this all at one time, or over the course of several  days, depending upon your preference. I mean, you've waited a couple of months to add water to your tank...what's another few days? 😆 Now, sure, there's a difference between a 5-gallon tank and a 50- gallon tank, and it takes a lot longer to fill, so it's up to you how you want to approach this!

And what you'd initially end up with is a murky, tinted environment, with little bits of leaves, botanicals, and soil floating about. Sounds like a blast, huh? And when you think about it, this is not all that different, at least procedurally, from the "dry start" approach to a planted tank...except we're not talking about a planted tsmnk here.. I mean, you could do aquatic plants...but it's more of a "wholistic biome" approach...

The interesting thing about this approach is that you will see a tank which "cycles" extremely quickly, in my experience. In fact, Iv'e done many iterations of "Urban Igapo" tanks where there was no detectible "cycle" in the traditional sense. I don't have an explanation for this, except to postulate that the abundance of bacterial and microorganism growth, and other life forms, like fungal growths, etc., powered by the nutrients available to them in the established terrestrial substrate expedites this process dramatically.

That's my theory, of course, and I could be way, way off base, but it is based on my experience and that of others in our community over the past several years. I mean, there is a nitrogen cycle occurring in the dry substrate, so when it's inundated, do the bacteria make the transition, or do they perish, followed by the very rapid colonization by other species, or..?

An underwater biome is created immediately with this approach. Doing this type of "transition" is going to not only create a different sort of underwater biodiversity, it will have the "collateral benefit" of creating a very different aesthetic as well. And yeah, it's an aesthetic that will be dictated by Nature, and will encompass all of those things that we know and love- biofilms, fungal growth, decomposition, etc.

I've done this in aquariums up to 10 gallons so far, with great success, so I'm completely convinced that this process can be "scaled up" easily. The technique is the same. 

Now, one fundamental difference between this approach and the more "traditional" "Urban Igapo" approach is that it's a "one way trip"- start our dry and take it to "wet", without going through repetitive dry cycles. The interesting thing to me about this approach is that you're going to have a very nutrient-rich aquarium habitat, with a big diversity of life from the start. 

Getting to the bottom of the "sedimented substrate thing..."

Okay, today is one of those posts where I simply can't make any excuses for it being a bit blatantly commercial. And that's something that I have to live with, right? I mean, I own a company which sells natural materials for aquariums, and I have written a blog for over 5 years, and recorded a podcast for almost 2 yrs...every once in a while, a blog or podcast can focus on one of our products...and today is such a day!

Yeah. 

Recently, we introduced a line of substrates called NatureBase. And, they've proven crazy popular! Yet, they generate a lot of questions...

We describe our products as "sedimented substrates", because that's what they are- consisting largely of clays, sand, soil, and other materials (mineral sediments!) which mimic some of the properties of the soils of South America and other locales that we find so compelling.

Now, one of the first questions people ask about our soils is "What makes them different than the other materials on the market?" Well, I could go on and on, but quite simply, the answer is that these substrates were formulated to replicate the terrestrial soils of these habitats, which become inundated during seasonal rains and flooding.

Forest floor soils in tropical areas are known by soil geologists as "oxisols", and have varying amounts of clay, sediments, minerals like quartz and silica, and various types of organic matter. So it makes sense that when flooded, these "ingredients" will have significant impact on the aquatic environment. This "recipe" is not only compositionally different than typical "off-the-shelf" aquarium sands and substrates- it looks and functions differently, too.

They weren't designed from the get go to replicate say, river, stream, or lake substrates writ large.

And, they weren't intended to be a "go-to" substrate to replace the standard commercial aquarium substrates, because: a) they're hand-mixed, and therefore more expensive, b) they're not specifically "aesthetic enhancements", c) they are not formulated to be general aquatic plant substrates d) because of their composition, they'll add some turbidity and tint to the aquarium water, at least initially (not everyone could handle THAT!)

Rather, the intention was that our first releases "Varzea" and "Igapo" were formulated to be "transitional" substrate materials- starting out as terrestrial, able to grow some grasses and plants, and eventually becoming saturated and ultimately, submerged, transitioning to a fully "aquatic" substrate material.

Perfect for use in our "Urban Igapo" simulations, which is exactly what we developed them for...you know, the classic case of "scratching your own itch!"

Of course, this begs the question, "Can't they just be used like 'conventional' aquarium substrates from the start?"

And the answer is, "Yeah, they could. However, what will happen, because of their ingredients, is that they will create cloudy, turbid water in your aquairum." There is a reason why materials like fine clays and mineral sediments haven't been particularly popular ingredients in aquarium substrates before!

Some of the materials will not saturate immediately causing this turbidity for several days or more. Ultimately, however, the materials will settle out and you'd be good to go. If you're okay with this initial turbidity, go for it from day one!

Oh, and you shouldn't rinse this substrate. Use it right out of the bag.

One of the pleasant surprises of the "NatureBase" line has been that they do grow aquatic plants- quite well, actually. Surprising to us, because some of the ingredients that we used in our formulation aren't specifically well-known for growing plants. However, the others are more nutritious, and the "pluses outweigh the minuses", apparently! 

So, why do people want to use this stuff?

From the depths of our imagination to the shallows of streams...

You're likely aware of the fact that we're crazy about small, shallow bodies of water, right? I mean, almost every fish geek is like "genetically programmed" to find virtually any random body of water irresistible!

Especially little rivulets, pools, creeks, and forest streams. The kinds which have an accumulation of leaves and botanical materials on the bottom. Darker water, submerged branches- all of that stuff...

You know, the kind where you'll find fishes!

Happily, such habitats exist all over the world, leaving us no shortage of inspiring places to attempt to replicate. Like, everywhere you look!

In Africa for example, many of these little streams and pools are home to some of my fave fishes, killifish! Of particular interest are the fishes of the genus Epiplatys. These fishes are outstanding at hiding and are quite adept at it in these little bodies of water, with their tangles of roots and submerged vegetation.

As mentioned above, many of these little jungle streams are really shallow, cutting gently through accumulations of leaves and forest debris.  Many are seasonal. The great killie documenter/collector, Col. Jorgen Scheel, precisely described the water conditions found in their habitat  as "...rather hot, shallow, usually stagnant & probably soft & acid."

Ah-ah! We know this territory pretty well, right?

I think we do...and understanding this type of habitat has lots of implications for creating very cool biotope-inspired aquariums. 

And why not make 'em for killifish?

So, for the most part, these fishes are often found in very shallow jungle streams. How shallow? Well, reports I've seen have stated that they're as shallow as 2 inches (5.08cm). That's really shallow. Like, seriously shallow! And, quite frankly, I'd call that more of a "rivulet" than a stream!

"Virtually still, with a barely perceptible current..." was one description. That kind of makes my case. Like, what you'd see when a small stream overflows it's banks and creates a smaller body of water. 

What does that mean for those of us who keep small aquariums?

Well, it gives us some inspiration, huh? Ideas for aquariums that attempt to replicate and study these compelling shallow environments...

An important consideration when contemplating such a replication in our tanks is to consider just how these little forests streams form. Typically, they are either a small tributary of a larger stream, with the path carved out by rain or erosion over time. In other situations, they may simply be the result of an overflowing tributary during the rainy season, and as the waters recede later in the year, they evolve into smaller streams meandering through vegetation.

Those little streams fascinate me.

These interesting little tributaries are usually shaded by trees at the margins, and often cut for many kilometers through dense rain forest. The bottoms of these tributaries- typically former forest floors- are often covered with seed pods, twigs, leaves, and other botanical materials from the vegetation above and surrounding them. Often, the water will pool into even smaller bodies of water.

In this world of decomposing leaves, submerged logs, twigs, and seed pods, there is a surprising diversity of life forms which call this milieu home. And each one of these organisms has managed to eke out an existence and thrive.

So-called "ephemeral" streams, typically occur only immediately after rain events (which means they usually don't have fish in them unless they are washed into them from more permanent watercourses). 

Now, I don't expect you to set up a tank with a water level that's 2 inches deep..And, although it would be pretty cool to do that, for more of us, perhaps a 3.5"-4" (8.89-10.16cm) of depth is something that can work? Yeah. Totally doable. There are some pretty small commercial aquariums that aren't much deeper than 8" (20.32cm), and you could adapt other containers for this purpose, right? 

We could do this with some of the very interesting South American or Asian habitats, too...Shallow tanks, deep leaf litter, and even some botanicals for good measure. 

Replicating these unique habitats creates functionally amazing aquariums, too!  These little bodies of water are very productive...

One of the more fascinating scientific observations I stumbled upon in recent years concerns the productivity (in terms of food inputs) of smaller Amazonian streams. It's long been known by science that the primary production of food in these streams has been our friend, allochthonous input- you know, leaves, wood, fruits, blossoms, etc. from the surrounding forests.

And, although there is a lot of "stuff" in these streams, biologists traditionally classified these habitats as "low in biomass." However, recent studies of the microfaunal diversity of these streams (Walker and Feriera), it was found that the stream fauna was aggregated in submerged litter and "may reach considerable densities..."

This observation suggested that the animal community within the submerged leaf litter banks was found in greater abundances- and was of greater importance- to the productivity of these waters than previously believed.

In other words, a lot of life and food happens in submerged leaf litter beds! They provide both food and shelter- two primary factors affecting population density among fishes. 

If we carry this out to its logical aquarium interpretation, it becomes more intriguing to contemplate an aquarium with the "hardscape" (for want of a better word) consisting essentially of leaves! 

Yeah, you've seen this before here. 

How about a long, low aquarium, like the ADA "60F", which has dimensions of 24"x12"x7" (60x30x18cm)? You would only fill this tank to a depth of around 5 inches ( 12.7cm) at the most. You'd use a lot of leaves to cover the bottom. We've done that a few times with great success.

in streams, the primary producers of the food webs that attract our fishes are algae and diatoms, which are typically found on rocks and wood wherever light and nutrients create optimum conditions for their growth. Organic material that enters streams via leaf fall is acted upon by fungi and small organisms, which help break it down.

It is probably no surprise, then, that bacteria (especially in biofilms!) and fungi are the initial consumers of the organic materials that accumulate on the bottom. Like, the stuff many of us loathe. These, in turn, are extremely vital to fishes as a food source.

Hence, one of the things I love so much about utilizing a leaf litter bed as a big part of your substrate composition in an aquarium! Of course, we talk about that all the time, right?

We do. And we'll continue to look into more ways to replicate these little shallow bodies of water in our aquariums, because the streams of the world are just a starting point for us to explore in our quest to create more realistic, functionally aesthetic aquariums that will provide enjoyment, education, and inspiration for others.

Stay inspired. Stay excited. Stay creative. Stay observant. Stay resourceful...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

The surprising benefits being flexible.

On of the annoying realities of our hobby- like life in general, is that sometimes you need to compromise stuff.

It's one of those words that us hobbyists naturally cringe when they hear, right?

You do. Admit it!

Compromise has such a feeling of "finality" about it, but the reality is that, in our hobby, compromising can often yield exciting results, unexpected benefits, and occasionally, breakthroughs. Sometimes, it's as simple as not being able to accommodate that one larger tank, and ending up with two, or even three smaller ones (in reality, is that EVEN a compromise for a fish geek?).

Or not being able to afford or obtain the one prized specimen of Apisto or whatever, and ending up with another species that you not only fall in love with, but learn to spawn, rear, and even foster breakthroughs with. Or thinking you were going be trying one type of aquascape, only to be "forced" into compromising a bit due to budget, space or time restrictions...only to end up with something amazing you never thought about before.

It happens. A lot. 

And it's not that bad a thing, really.

The reality is that being flexible, adventurous, and being willing to accept new ideas and approaches on perhaps a smaller scale or under a different set of circumstances is really one of the best traits that you can have as a hobbyist.

Compromising some aspects of an idea has, on so many occasions in my fishy "career", enabled me to accomplish stuff I never thought possible, with benefits, enjoyment, and opportunities that I could never have imagined previously. Especially when it comes to tank size- probably the most annoying compromise we as hobbyists feel that we have to make...Sometimes, the benefits of using a smaller tank might be surprising!

It's all really a matter of perspective. Think about it. What "compromises" have you made, only to come to realize that they were not compromises at all? 

When it comes to botanical-style aquariums, compromises require us as aquarist to make a bunch. When we understand that adding botanical materials to the aquarium, we're not only creating the environment- we're adding bioload to the system, and that we need to allow for the passage of time for the beneficial bacteria and other members of the microbiome to group and multiply within the system.

To many hobbyists, waiting for this microbiome to develop is a sort of compromise... We love stuff to happen fast! On OUR personal timeline. The reality, as we know by now, is that Nature sets the timeline, creates change, and requires us to accommodate HER- whether we want to or not!

Oh, sure, some of the changes that occur during the "life" of an aquarium are human-imposed, such as equipment modifications/replacements, aquascaping "edits", fish and plant additions, etc.

However, if you look carefully (as I'm sure that you do), as many changes can be attributed to the cycle of life which occurs in your little microcosm as to human "intervention" of the aquarium environment. 

And that involves compromises, doesn't it?

Perhaps the key to many previously overlooked benefits for our fishes is to simply try to emulate the processes which occur seasonally in nature..embracing change, and it's strange, yet inexorable relationship with consistency.

Our fishes have adapted to it. We should embrace it.

Some hobbyists have commented that, as their leaves and botanicals break down in their aquariums, and the 'scape as initially presented changes significantly over time. They know it or not, they are grasping the Japanese philosophy of "Wabi-Sabi"...sort of. One must appreciate the beauty at various phases to really grasp the concept and appreciate it. To find little vignettes- little moments- of fleeting beauty that need not be permanent to enjoy.

And, understanding these natural processes and replicating more and more of them in our aquariums can expose more and more people- even non hobbyists- to the wonder and fragility of these fascinating aquatic ecosystems, fostering a greater demand to protect them.

It's an amazing time to be an aquarist, isn't it?

I mean, we have the fishes, the technology, the materials, and the means to research arcane topics once considered solely the domain of scholars. We can actually execute on many of these things. We can try playing with concepts that we've likely never given much thought to previously. And we can rapidly communicate and share our ideas, successes, challenges, failures, and overall progress with fellow hobbyists all over the planet.

Nature is calling. 

Another thing for us to grasp...flexibility. Maybe it's even a mental shift?

Embrace the change that being flexible brings. Enjoy Nature at work. Assist, enjoy, and work with Nature in your aquarium, and you'll develop an even greater appreciation for the beauty of the natural world, and have a lot more fun doing so!

Stay engaged. Stay attuned. Stay observant. Stay creative. Stay flexible...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics

Piling up

As you know, we're pretty into substrates around here!

And not just sand and gravel, as we've discussed repeatedly. Now, here's the thing: I am 100% certain that you can use all sorts of materials to create a functional and useful substrate for your aquarium. I've done this for many years with great success, as many of you have.

Long term management of our botanical-style aquariums has evolved along with the mindsets which accompany them. And this extends to how we treat our existing aquarium when we "remodel" it. 

Especially the substrate.

I think we need to stop "ditching" our "old"substrates when we iterate our tanks.

I know, the idea of leaving the substrate and leaf litter/botanical "bed" intact as you "remodel" isn't exactly a crazy one. And conceptually, it's sort of replicates what occurs in Nature, doesn't it?

Yeah, think about this for just a second.

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.

Beyond simply replicating these inundation/dry season cycles (ie; the "Urban Igapo" thing again), think about how materials, including detritus, accumulate in the substrate, and what the impact of removing this stuff is.

When you remove much of the hardscape, plants, etc. from the aquarium as you "evolve" it to something else, yet leave the substrate, some of the hardscape, leaves, etc. intact, you're essentially mimicking this process in a most realistic way.

Sure, a "makeover" of an aquarium can be a seriously disruptive event. On the other hand, if you take the mindset that this is a "transformation" of sorts, and act accordingly, it becomes more of an evolutionary process.

Leaving in the existing botanical substrate, along with its decomposing leaves, bark, sedimented material, detritus, and the accompanying biotia just makes a lot of sense, IMHO.

I mean, if you're not sold on the benefits that the biological continuity of leaving your "old" substrate intact bring, you can likely embrace the idea that decomposing leaves and such comprise a sort of aquatic "mulch" for plant growth, right? Mulch, by definition is: "Material (such as decaying leaves, bark, or compost) spread around or over a plant to enrich or insulate the soil."

What works in the garden likely works in the aquarium, in the context of "substrate enrichment", right?

I think that the possibility of utilizing botanicals along with specialized substrates as a means to grow plants and enrich the overall aquarium ecosystem on many levels is simply too irresistible to overlook. We've talked about this before. Indeed, botanicals are a sort of "substrate" in and of themselves- and that is something that's quite interesting! 

Yes, we've talked about this almost constantly for years.

And they are ALIVE.

The idea of considering the substrate of your aquarium a living, breathing organism makes you take a different mindset. I mean, would you essentially kill an entire ecological niche within your tank simply because you want a "do-over" on the hardscape, plants, or other part of the "theme?" 

Not if you look at it like that, right?

Just because you were doing a South American-inspired tank, and now you're going African- if the water parameters are intended to basically be the same, what's the point in decimating an entire functioning substrate in the process?

That's not "progress"- that's a huge setback!

The typical justification for ditching the old substrate during a tank "remodel" is that you want to "get rid of all of the detritus that's accumulate in the substrate..."

Wait a minute!

If we really look at it objectively, "detritus" plays a very important role on our systems. It not only provides a physical place for positive biological activity which supports the overall function of the aquarium- it fuels it.

Yup.

With our embrace of "detritus" or "mulm" as a source of "fuel" for creating active biological systems within the confines of 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."

I envision that the future of mainstream aquarium practice may include creating such a substrate as simply part of "what we do." Adding a mix of botanical materials, live bacterial and small organism cultures, and even some "detritus" from healthy aquatic systems may become how we establish systems. And leaving the existing materials alone and building upon them will be the way.

These ideas are cool.

Cool, because they force us to look at Nature in a different way. Cool- because they make us consider not only the "appearance", but the (wait for it...) function of  the natural habitats we're fascinated by and the aquariums which we develop to replicate them.

So, it's okay to let things "pile up" now and then, right? 

I think so.

Today's simple, but important thought.

Stay curious. Stay brave. Stay motivated. Stay excited...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics 

Our friends, the fungi

We're likely the only fish geeks you'll encounter who constantly sing the praises of biofilms and fungi huh? 

Fungi.

Yeah, those guys.

They're all over our botanical-style aquariums, regardless of how we feel about them....

Not the ones that we vilify for attacking our fish or their eggs, of course. It's easy to just heap them in with the "bad guys" and the nasty implications they have. 

Nope. There's more to it than that.

Fungi are "omnipresent" in aquatic ecosystems- even our allegedly "pristine" aquariums. 

Fungi reproduce by releasing tiny spores that then germinate on new and hospitable surfaces (ie, pretty much anywhere they damn well please!). These aquatic fungi are involved in the decay of wood and leafy material. And of course, when you submerge terrestrial materials in water, growths of fungi tend to arise.

Anyone who's ever "cured" a piece of aquatic wood for your aquarium can attest to this!

Fungi tend to colonize wood because it offers them a lot of surface area to thrive and live out their life cycle. And cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin- the major components of wood and botanical materials- are degraded by fungi which posses enzymes that can digest these materials! Fungi are regarded by biologists to be the dominant organisms associated with decaying leaves in streams, so this gives you some idea as to why we see them in our aquariums, right?

And of course, fishes and invertebrates which live amongst and feed directly upon the fungi and decomposing leaves and botanicals contribute to the breakdown of these materials as well! Aquatic fungi can break down the leaf matrix and make the energy available to feeding animals in these habitats.

And look at this little gem I found in my research:

"There is evidence that detritivores selectively feed on conditioned leaves, i.e. those previously colonized by fungi (Suberkropp, 1992; Graca, 1993). Fungi can alter the food quality and palatability of leaf detritus, aecting shredder growth rates. Animals that feed on a diet rich in fungi have higher growth rates and fecundity than those fed on poorly colonized leaves. Some shredders prefer to feed on leaves that are colonized by fungi, whereas others consume fungal mycelium selectively..."

"Conditioned" leaves, in this context, are those which have been previously colonized by fungi! They make the energy within the leaves and botanicals more available to higher organisms like fishes and invertebrates! 

Interestingly, many fungi are "specialists", with what ecologists classify as "Ingoldian anamorphic fungi" being most numerous on decaying leaves, while fungi known as ascomycetes (order Dothideomycetes, Sordariomycetes) are prevalent on submerged/exposed woody substrata, like twigs, tree trunks, and bark. Unique fungi are found in tropical waters and differ from those in temperate locations.

"Operating our aquariums...Replicating Nature"

One of the real “frontiers” of the aquarium hobby is the practice of “operating” our tanks like the little microcosms that they are.

Attempting to replicate in our aquariums- on a number of levels- the processes and cycles which occur in Nature. We’re talking about things like seasonal weather cycles, water temperature, depth, nutrient levels, pH, current, photoperiod, food “pulsing”, etc.

Historically, hobbyists have been doing things like this to stimulate spawning in a wide variety of fishes over the years. This is really nothing new.

However, incorporating regular environmental manipulation for the routine maintenance of our fishes IS something a bit different. I'm not talking about "working" your tap water to achieve "blackwater" or "brackish" conditions in your aquarium. Rather, I'm suggesting that, once those "baseline" environmental parameters are set, that you "operate" your tank by trying to replicate some of the processes that we mentioned above.

And we're just scratching the surface here!

One easy "operation" that we can perform is the seasonal "pulsing" of leaves into our tanks. It's a process which can relatively easily simulate what occurs in Nature, when you think about it. 

There is a more-or-less continuous "supply" of leaves falling off into the jungles and waterways in these habitats, which is why you'll see leaves at varying stages of decomposition in tropical streams. It's also why leaf litter banks may be almost "permanent" structures within some of these bodies of water!

And, for the fishes and other organisms which live in, around, and above the litter beds, there is a lot of potential food, which does vary somewhat between the "wet" and "dry" seasons and their accompanying water levels. The fishes tend to utilize the abundant mud, detritus, and epiphytic materials which accumulate in the leaf litter as food. During the dry seasons, when water levels are lower, this organic layer compensates for the shortage in other food resources. 

During the higher water periods, there is a much greater amount of allochthonous input (remember that? I mean, on what other hobby-related site do they talk about THAT shit, huh?) from the surrounding terrestrial environment in the form of insects, fruits, and other plant material. I suppose that, in our aquariums, it's pretty much always the "wet season"in that regard, right?

We tend to top off and replace decomposing leaves and botanical more-or-less continuously, allowing materials to decompose and accumulate on top of one another. Very similar to what happens in Nature.

And it makes me wonder...

What if we stopped replacing leaves and even lowered water levels or decreased water exchanges in our tanks to correspond to, for example, the Amazonian dry season (June to December)...And if you consider that many fishes tend to spawn in the "dry" season, concentrating in the shallow waters, could this have implications for spawning our fishes?

I think it might.

In fact, I further proffer that we need to look a lot deeper into the idea of environmental manipulation for the purpose of getting our fishes to be healthier, more colorful. Now I know, the idea is nothing new on a "macro" level- we've been increasing and lowering temps in our aquariums, adjusting lighting levels, and tweaking stuff for a long time in attempts to breed them. That's kind of "Exhibit #1" in making the case that these types of processes work.

Killie keepers have played with this in drying and incubation periods in annual killifish eggs. However, I don't think we've been doing a lot of real hardcore manipulations...like adjusting water levels, increasing nutrient levels (ie; "pulsing" adding leaves and other botanicals), manipulating current, dissolved oxygen, food types, etc. 

I think that there are so many different things that we can play with- and so many nuances that we can investigate and manipulate in our aquariums. What about the pulsing of leaf additions to correspond to the seasonal leaf drop?

I think that this could even add a new nuance to biotope aquarium simulation and the contest scene, such as creating an aquarium which simulates the actual functions- not just the "look"- of  the "Preto da Eva River in Brazil in October", for example...with appropriate environmental conditions, such as water level, amounts of allochthonous material, etc. Show those hardcore contest biotope snobs what a real biotope aquarium is all about! 😆

The possibilities are endless here! And, as always, the aesthetics are a "collateral benefit" of the process.

So much to consider.

Of course, we're doing this stuff for a reason: To create more naturally-functioning, authentic-looking, aquatic displays for our fishes. To understand and acknowledge that our fishes and their very existence is influenced by the habitats in which they have evolved. To unravel the subtleties of the relationship between them on a deeper level.

Wild tropical aquatic habitats are influenced greatly by the surrounding geography and flora of their region, which in turn, have considerable influence upon the population of fishes which inhabit them, and their life cycle. The simple fact of the matter is, when we add botanical materials to an aquarium and accept what occurs as a result-regardless of wether our intent is just to create a different aesthetic, or perhaps something more, we are-to a very real extent-replicating the processes and influences that occur in wild aquatic habitats in Nature.

The presence of botanical materials such as leaves in these aquatic habitats is fundamental. They're part of Nature's "operating system." 

In our little hobby sector, leaves are sort of the "gateway drug", if you will, into our world. Where you go from there depends upon what aspects of the "operating system" you're determined to play with!

The manipulation of other aspects of the aquarium environment, such as temperature, water current, and lighting is every bit as important as the the physical additions of botanical materials and leaves, when it comes to the impact that they have. Even factors such as "filling" a tank with more and more roots and other materials after it's "underway" is another simulation of Nature that we could play with. 

Of course, even when "operating" our tanks, we need to deploy radical amounts of patience in our work.

Botanical-style aquariums typically require more time to evolve. This process can be "expedited" or manipulated a bit, bit to achieve truly meaningful and beneficial results, you just can't rush stuff! 

You can't interrupt it, either.

When you do, as we've learned, results can be, well- "different" than they would be if you allow things to continue on at their own pace. Not necessarily "bad"- just not as good as what's possible if you relax and let Nature run Her course without interruption.

Patience is our guideline. Nature our inspiration. Experience and execution our teachers. We're on a mission...to share the benefits which can be gained by embracing and meeting Nature as She really is.

Give Her a chance. let's let Nature do her thing without interruption.

Trust me. She's awfully good at it.

In the confines of an aquarium, finding a "rhythm" that works for both us and our fishes is the key here. I mean, sure, if you want to really follow global weather patterns and do stepped-up water exchanges and botanical additions and removals to correspond with them, this would be a very cool experiment!

However, for most of us, simply establishing a routine of botanical additions and replenishment is a good idea. Removing them as they decompose, or leaving them in until they completely break down are both practices which form part of the "management"- the operating system- of our aquariums. 

Change.

And consistency. 

Working together in a most interesting way.

The more we look at Nature, the more we find that trying to model our aquariums aesthetically and functionally after Her processes is an amazing way to go!

And I think that our fishes will let us know, too...I mean, those "accidental" spawnings aren't really "accidental", right? They're an example of our fishes letting us know that what we've been providing them has been exactly what they needed.

It's worth considering, huh?

Stay creative. Stay observant. Stay diligent. Stay persistent. Stay patient...

And Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics