Blackwater tank info

[Yan7gin]

I want to change my 135 gal for blackwater tank, my first question is ;
do i realy need driftwood on my tank?
I did some research but still need the ask. I know i need some almond leaf or almond extract and massive source on the aquarium, but can its worck with just almond leaf?

Does the blackwater affect plants?

How colombian shark will react ? I know all my other fish are fine with blackwater (discus, angel, plecos,...)

Can i put the leaf direct in to the filter (FX5)


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=48.437532,-123.468489

[Yan7gin]

So no body can help me ????

[jobber604]

Go and Google "how to setup a blackwater fish tank"

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[BelieveInBlue]

Do you NEED driftwood? no.

Does it help create that black water look? Definitely.

Most, if not all, black water habitats contain very few plants, and has decor that consists mostly of driftwood and rocks. This is because the GH/KH in black water is so low that it is almost non-existent, so plants don't have a ton of nutrients to work with. If you're going to do a blackwater set up but still maintain decent GH and KH, then no the plants won't be affected; I have java fern, horn wort, and cryptocoryne in my black water tank; none of those plants are black water plants, but I've enough hardness and I dose ferts, so they grow like crazy.

You can use just almond leaves to create a black water tank, but that's pretty expensive in the long run. It's much easier (and cheaper) to simply buy a bunch of drift wood, and let them leach tannins into the tank to create the effect. Almond leaves and peat moss will also help create that black water look and effect. You can also buy commercially made black water extract, although they're not always available, and I prefer just using driftwood.

I'm not sure how the colombian shark would react as i don't know anything about them; that would depend on how closely you want to match the true black water habitat.

if you put the leaves in a bag, then yes you can put it in the filter, just make sure that it's in a place where the water washes directly over the bag. Same goes for peat moss.

[Yan7gin]

For the peat moss i have some at home but i dont know if that the right one, its premier sphagnum peat moss tourbe, i send a pic

[BelieveInBlue]

I use sphagnum peat moss (the brown stuff). Make sure there aren't any additives in there and you should be fine.

[Yan7gin]

With just the peat moss can i have my black water or i need to add almond leaf???

[BelieveInBlue]

If you have enough of it, I think it should work. I reply more on driftwood for the tannins though; the peat moss I mainly use to lower pH, though the driftwood will do that too, to some degree.

[Yan7gin]

So what about the pH ???? If the driftwood, peat moss lower the pH. How you guys do for get the right pH???

[jobber604]

Test the water using a ph test kit. Its all approximate. As long as the ph range is between 7 and around 6.4, I'd say its acidic enough for general fish keeping purposes.

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