Back to black

seangee said:

Firstly black does not mean dirty. The "black" is tannin in the water and typically occurs in forests where the water passes over tree roots and branches. Very often, as in South America and Asia this water is incredibly clean and pure. This is why many of these fish are intolerant of or sensitive to poor water quality. The tannin has zero affect on water quality, although as the water is so pure it may contribute to making the water more acidic.

Since this usually happens in forests it means the fish are not used to bright light. This is due to a combination of the tannin in the water, floating plants and the tree canopies shading the water. That is why I am happy to let my floating plants grow so thick, as that creates a natural environment for my forest fish. In this tank the right half is completely covered over, and it is really quite dark in there - even with the lights on.

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seangee said:

Up close and personal. I've had this guy since 2004 and gave away his 3 siblings when I downsized the tank in 2016
View attachment 101127

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seangee said:

And last but not least. The vals have finally reached the surface and started back down. They do grow very slowly in this tank because they prefer hard water. I suspect the one growing through the middle of the crypt came in as a hitch-hiker, but I may be wrong. Colour is not quite right as you don't get the full blackwater effect - although you can see it on the right. I used a graduated ND filter as the lighting between the left and right sides really is very different (6 full stops).

View attachment 101112

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Russjw said:

His a beast!!
How come you downsized?

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Russjw said:

Cardinals look great in this tank. Colours really pop

It looks alot lighter than normal. Have you thinned out your frogbit?

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seangee said:

Have been considering switching the substrate in the 55G community tank to black for some time (ok years), but have always balked at the effort involved. I already have "black" sand in my nano and recently used the leftover to setup this tank. I am really pleased with the look but the 2 tanks with dark substrate are in my home office where nobody gets to see them and the community tank is on display in the living room.

I will start over the weekend. Here is the before picView attachment 94008

I have recently stopped adding tannins to the tank. That goes in cycles, some months I do and some months I don't . I have also let the frogbit go pretty wild and am loving the look. The fish seem to be enjoying the environment but it does mean that I am not getting enough flow on the surface to clear the oily deposits or food that gets caught up in the roots, so I will be replacing the canister with a HOB. I have been really impressed with the Seachem Tidal I used in the other tank so have bought the bigger version. It also suits my general laziness when it comes to cleaning. Yes I know cleaning a canister is not hard but rinsing sponges is much easier and I only plan to have sponge in it. I also replaced the powerhead I removed with a stronger unit. It only runs 20 minutes every 4 hours during the light period.

My only maintenance at present is a weekly 75% water change and plant thinning. I do the canister quarterly (it has a sponge pre-filter and I rinse the sponges with every w/c). I am going to lose the pre-filter and simply rinse the HOB sponges weekly.

Here is the frogbit from above
View attachment 94009

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seangee said:

They spawn quite regularly but I have never had survivors. There are over 30 corys and 45 tetras in the tank so I'm not going to hold my breath.

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Russjw said:

What kind of corys you got Sean? Saw you mentioned sterbi's before but didnt realise you had over 30

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seangee said:

Peppers are all over the tank and often foraging upside down in the roots. Someone on SF described them as "thick as a bag of nails" and they're not wrong, they will swim into your hand and catching them is no problem. Just put the net into the water and they will swim into it to see what is going on. Downside is they know no fear and don't recognise aggression which could lead to problems if you did have agressive fish. I always describe them as the labradors of the aquarium, always wagging their tails and just want to be friends with everyone.

Sterbais are more nocturnal and faster moving. They are a lot more skittish and catching them is quite difficult. Otherwise the behaviour is similar(ish) and they do often swim together.

Some time ago my aging population got down to 1 sterbai and 6 peppers. I ordered 15 sterbai, thinking I'd stick with them. When they arrived the bag was full of peppers. Store gave me a refund but did not want them back, so I ordered 10 sterbai a couple of weeks later.

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seangee said:

Peppers are all over the tank and often foraging upside down in the roots. Someone on SF described them as "thick as a bag of nails" and they're not wrong, they will swim into your hand and catching them is no problem. Just put the net into the water and they will swim into it to see what is going on. Downside is they know no fear and don't recognise aggression which could lead to problems if you did have agressive fish. I always describe them as the labradors of the aquarium, always wagging their tails and just want to be friends with everyone.

Sterbais are more nocturnal and faster moving. They are a lot more skittish and catching them is quite difficult. Otherwise the behaviour is similar(ish) and they do often swim together.

Some time ago my aging population got down to 1 sterbai and 6 peppers. I ordered 15 sterbai, thinking I'd stick with them. When they arrived the bag was full of peppers. Store gave me a refund but did not want them back, so I ordered 10 sterbai a couple of weeks later.

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