The Tint

The idea of utilizing some biological material from an existing aquarium to help “inoculate” the biology of a new tank is as old as the modern hobby itself. And the botanical method aquarium lends itself particularly well to this sort of practice.. let’s talk about how our botanical method aquariums are not only never “finished”- they can achieve a certain “ immortality!”

One of the long held “best practices” in aquarium keeping is the idea that you need to “cure” wood that you use in your aquascape before adding it into your display aquarium. While the idea behind this practice seems sound to many- perhaps it’s not all that beneficial to those of us who play with botanical method aquariums. Like, what are the “downsides” to letting this process play out in our dis...

Among the many skills we can learn as practitioners of the botanical method aquarium is to become what I call an “operator.” An aquarist who works with and manipulates various factors of the aquarium ecology to create dynamic seasonal changes which mimic those found in Nature. The possible health benefits and spawning opportunities that could arise out of this practice are endless!

As hobbyists, we plan for and worry about every possible contingency in our aquariums. And when something DOES go wrong, we consider it “unexpected”, or “anamolous”, when the reality is that the cause is out there, somewhere. I personally think that we need to relax about stuff, roll with it. We need to deal with these unexpected things by developing a more resilient attitude.

Today, let’s touch on a topic that we welcome hit on here in “The Tint.” Let’s talk about lighting your botanical method aquarium- specifically for growing aquatic plants. This is the mere “opening salvo” in what I hope to make a more in depth look at this topic- one which many of you ask about! Tinted water and aquatic plants seem counterintuitive, but there’s a lot to the topic. Let’s get into i...

If there is one fundamental that I wish I could teach to every aquarist, it’s patience. Botanical method aquariums run on the stuff…Patience is a core principle of what we do, and it’s an essential skill for every hobbyist to have. We need to eschew “hacks” and “shortcuts in favor of a longer game. We need to look at the “big picture” and see the many benefits of being patient….

We postulate and theorize a lot about what botanicals do for aquariums. We are beginning to understand some of their implications and impacts in our aquariums. However, we won’t talk about lot about their impact on wild aquatic habitats… Let’s have that talk- and think about the implications for our aquariums, too…including a bit more talk on what we call “blackwater.”

If we observe what our fishes feed on in the wild, we might be pleasantly surprised to find out that we can (and in some instances, already do) provide these same foods in a botanical method aquarium. Let’s take a fresh look at the foods we can produce in our tanks, and the potential benefits they can provide for our fishes!

Our aquariums tell us a lot of things. They literally “speak” to us. By observing, testing, and analyzing the feedback we receive from our tanks, we can set ourselves up for long term success. And often, it’s not as simple as just looking at numbers on a test kit. We need to look at things in context- to see what’s behind the numbers. We sometimes need to affect changes.. and other times, let the...

Yeah, it’s time for my semi annual ass kicking of the contest aquascaping world. Another of my irrational yet passionate rants asking us to do better! Guaranteed to offend a lot of people!😵‍💫

What is this whole botanical method aquarium thing about? Well, my philosophy has evolved a lot over the years. I think a lot of what we are doing with our botanical method aquariums is simply setting the stage for Nature to do something that She does best… create an ecosystem. This philosophy shapes everything in my aquarium work.. I hope that it impacts yours, too!

The history of aquarium keeping is a mix of amazing people, cool ideas, and of course, fascinating fishes. Many of the ideas we take for granted in the hobby have their roots in the 1950s and 60s- arguably the hobby’s “Golden Age.” However, there are all sorts of new ideas percolating in-.. today, a quick romp through hobby history and some personal relief tons and observations that confirm, in my...

After a lifetime in the hobby- I’d venture to say that there are no really “difficult” fish. Here’s why: it’s not that a fish is inherited “difficult”- it simply means that we as hobbysits, if we want to be successful with a species- need to meet its needs. A fish doesn’t arrive in our aquarium with a concept of being “easy” or “difficult.” It arrives with a set of biological requirements.

Embracing the botanical method aquarium means adopting a “low intervention, high control “ philosophy. It requires thoughtful maintenance- perhaps a lot less than you’d expect. Why? Becuase we rely on the population of microorganisms and other life forms to provide the “filtration” for the system, and maintenance involves letting these processes play out instead of interfering with them? Curious?...

Let’s talk more about establishing a “benthic habitat” in our reef aquariums via rubble! My continued evolution of an idea that I’ve played with for decades is getting me pretty excited- and giving me a lot of great lessons on how to evolve my reefkeeping! Hopefully some of the lessons I’ve learned will inspire you on your own journeys!

We walk a fine line between aesthetic and function in our world. A world which requires mental shifts, adoption of new techniques, and love of a certain “look.” One of the big discussion points that we have is about the color and “clarity” of the water in our botanical method aquariums…Let’s “clear up” some of the misconceptions about this stuff!

Sometimes, it’s fun to consider some of the absurdities in the aquarium hobby. Like, how some fishes are just ordained by the universe to be a pain to keep.. or how we select our fishes for our aquariums. Today is a light-hearted excursion into the world of fishes that were so obsessed with, and a bit of a laugh at my own personal foibles!

I have a hunch that pretty much all botanical materials from all over the owls pretty much perform the same when submerged in water! So it’s my opinion that you can and should use all sorts of materials that you can collect locally- with a few caveats- because “exotic” doesn’t have to be the only measure of usefulness when it comes to to leaves and stuff we use! Yeah- Use what you’ve got!

Let’s settle into my salty side today. Substrate is sort of out of favor with the reef aquarium hobby, for reasons which are remarkably similar to some of the ones we encounter in the botanical method aquarium world. We’llthe role which subsystems play in both natural reefs and home aquariums… a discussion about why we should reconsider a substrate. This is particularly intersting to botanical met...

Fish fry love to eat. What if we could provide them with an almost unlimited supply of natural food, with minimal effort? Well, we can… It’s called the Botanical Method aquarium… And we all know how to build one already! We might just have one of the greatest “nursery tanks” ever!

Few things in aquarium hobby husbandry freak people out like detritus. Vilified, feared, and for too long, simply misunderstood- detritus is not the “bogeyman” we think it is. In botanical method aquariums, detritus is an integral part of how things work!

A sort of “companion” to our last piece- in this episode, we examine how there is a beauty in randomness within our aquariums!, and how we can foster it for our fishes’ advantage!

Instead of viewing botanical materials as “decorations” to be arranged into some sort of “composition” in the aquarium, we should see them as active participants in building the habitat itself! In Mature,,botanical materials don’t simply occupy a habitat- they help create it!

Sport has its heros. Music has its legends. Hollywood has its idols. The aquarium hobby has…gadgets. Gadgets which transcend time and have made generations of hobbysits have a better experience! Let’s take a quick look at some of my fave all-time aquarium gadgets- including the one that I think is truly the GOAT!

One of the central ideas behind botanical method aquariums is that the aquarium itself becomes the “filter.” Hers a fresh look at this idea, and why you might actually have more in common with a reef aquarist than your “ run-of-the-mill” freshwater aquarist!