Blackwater setup checklist

[Streetwise]

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[Gator]

Kittkat 1981;

I've been in a lot of swamps in my lifetime. From the Great Dismal swamp in Virginia down through N.C., S.C., Georgia, all the way down to the Everglades west to the Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana.

The similarities of these swamps is that the water is not actually black, it looks black because of the decaying and decayed vegetation on the bottom called muck, the water itself has a slight yellowish tint to it, but is generally clear.

The water is very soft and because of the decayed vegetation, has a very low pH of somewhere between 6.0 and 6.5.

To duplicate thee conditions in my tanks, I use RO/DI water that can be bought at the Primo dispenser at your local Wally World, this water has a pH of 6.0 and a hardness of about 3. To give it that yellowish tint that our fish are used to, I put some peat pellets in a mesh bag and placed in my filter, but don't use too much, too much peat can cause a pH crash.

I hope I've been of some help.

Sincerely

Gator

  

[Torrey]

@Kittkat1981 I have a blackwater tank, on purpose (technically, I have several, but only one is super dark).

If you want to keep the pH up a little higher, it sounds like water changes will do the trick for you. It will require close monitoring of the pH in the tank for a while, until you get really good at 'reading' your plants and fish.

Easiest tank for me to get really dark water, *and* great growth, and reasonable pH, is my Walstad inspired tank.

 

It's only a 10 gallon, has 1.5" to 2" soil capped by 1" sand, with a small "beach" in the front. I already have 3" of new growth on everything except for the Carolina bacopa.

Snails, blackworms and amphopods are thriving, I won't be adding fish or shrimp for at least 4 more weeks. I need to add some Malaysian trumpet snails, first, and I am waiting on my next shipment of plants.

This tank has no heater, no airstone, and no filter beyond the plants.

When I add fish, I will add an Aquarium Co-op sponge filter, just to add a little water movement. 

I'll try to create a post like @Streetwise explained, to document the tank, as well. 

Dirt, capped with sand, and "beach" up front. 

 

End of week 1

 

Amphopod, cleaning the glass.

 

End of week 2, water is getting darker.

 

 

Right now, at the end of week 3.

Floating plants have eliminated the ammonia from the soil.

 

The plants are almost growing out of the water and will need a trim soon.

 

As you can see, water is continually getting darker.

Close-up of the fast growing side. Carolina bacopa (8 small plants on the left side of the tank) each have 4 - 6 new leaves. The growth is actually picking up as the water gets darker. Plants have only been in ~ 3 weeks, and all but one of the stem plants already has healthy root growth. 

 

This is my fourth dark water / black water tank, and I have to say that I really love allowing my tanks to evolve and stabilize instead of trying to force them.

Best of luck!

[anewbie]

On 7/29/2021 at 5:51 PM, Streetwise said:

You can have dark tannin environments without going below 7.00 pH.

But then it isn't blackwater; it is just a dark tannin environment !

[Torrey]

In nature, the pH changes drastically in many blackwater environs, according to season, temp, rainfall, tidal influence, and human interference. 

 

We typically only have the water parameters during comfortable tourist season, because the majority of people are not visiting during monsoon/leech breeding season 

[Streetwise]

One thing I have learned from my Apex monitoring is that pH changes in cycles based on photosynthesis and respiration of plants. @Daniel helped me to understand how this works.

[Kittkat1981]

On 7/30/2021 at 8:26 AM, Frank said:

Maybe turn off the blue. See how that looks. Blue seems to grow algae more.

 

On 7/30/2021 at 6:48 PM, Streetwise said:

One thing I have learned from my Apex monitoring is that pH changes in cycles based on photosynthesis and respiration of plants. @Daniel helped me to understand how this works.

But does that cycle happen indoors?  I could see if you were tubbing.  My 65 is in a basement. Stays 70 degrees or so. 

[Kittkat1981]

On 8/1/2021 at 2:39 AM, Kittkat1981 said:

 

But does that cycle happen indoors?  I could see if you were tubbing.  My 65 is in a basement. Stays 70 degrees or so. 

Nevermind. I missread your post.  I retract my question and go back to sleep..

[Casual aquatics]

Will have to get more pics when home but I have access drift wood a dirtied soil mix s with sand almond leaves occasionally added. I also think yellow and red lighting help give that hue color other than that I have some hornwort floaters and some Amazon swords in the tank also do more topping off then water change to keep the tannin just my opinion but u see far more educated people in chat so I’m sure you’ll get what your looking for !