The Tint

Stuff from outside the aquatic habitat- influencing the aquatic habitat.. An amazing process which is replicated in our aquariums daily…

The world is filled with all sorts of cool botanical materials which you can use in your aquarium. Some are perfectly safe- others can nuke your tank. It’s an adventure. In this episode, we talk a little bit about sourcing your own, buying from vendors, and doing some experiments with botanicals!

In this special episode, we're excited to visit with our friend, Thomas Minesi, (AKA Congo Nature Photography )on Instagram, for an in-depth discussion of his recent expedition to The River Fwa in Democratic Republic of Congo. Our discussion covers Thomas' many fascinating observations of this remarkable karst river and its amazing underwater topography, cichlid population, and aquatic plants. Lot...

After almost 2 years without my “normal” aquariums, I’m excited to embark on some new journeys. And man, I’ve been tempted to take a pretty significant detour. It took everything I had- and a healthy does of self-awareness- to avoid jumping into something that was against my own inner dialogue on how to do an aquarium… Here’s my story- hop it brings you some value!

It had to happen eventually: A straight-up botanical-style aquarium placed highly in a major aquascaping competition. Let’s celebrate, and consider what this means to our little hobby speciality area…

On this very special episode of "The Tint", we sit down with Team Tannin's Alex Franqui, ridiculously talented aquairust, designer, and now, high-placing competitive 'scaper! Fresh off his 3rd place finish in the prestigious 2021 Aquatic Gardner's Association Aquascaping Contest, in which his pure botanical-style aquarium took 3rd in the Biotope category, Alex shares his mindset, experiences, and...

Yes, it's true! We're super excited about some incredible developments in the world of aquascaping contests! Several of the top-ranked aquariums in the 2021 AGA contest were amazing NATURAL aquariums, including two of our "family" members- Jen Williams, and "Team Tannin" guy Alex Francqui! Aquariums that embraced a "functional aesthetic" mindset! We talk about her tank, North American Native fishe...

Water- specifically blackwater- is fundamental to a lot of the work we do. Yet, there is so much confusion out there about how water conditions are created in Nature, and how we can replicate the processes which create these water conditions in our aquariums!

We’ve talked about some interesting concepts over the years, but few are as potentially important to us botanical-style aquarium geeks as the idea of our tanks cultivating natural foods for our fishes. Let’s look again at the ridiculous simplicity of this idea, and the benefits it brings us!

Okay, this one might be tough to listen to for some. Let’s face it: The aquarium hobby, while not difficult- isn’t “easy.” It shouldn’t be! We’re taking on the responsibility of caring for live animals. We can’t dumb this stuff down. We need to learn some fundamentals. And those of us in the industry, or content creators, need to level up our game. We’ve got this…

The idea of terrestrial materials accumulating in your aquarium is fundamental to our practice. It literally builds up the biome of our aquariums. Letting this happen is a tough mental shift to make- but an essential one.

The “D word!” A bad thing? Or just another phenomenon which our fishes have adapted to work with. I’m thinking that a little disruption in our tanks from time to time isn’t such a bad thing. It might even be a benefit!

Sometimes, the most challenging aspects of trying different approaches to aquarium keeping are mental. They task us to accept stuff which likely freaks out 90% of the aquarium world. The challenge- as we see it- is to push through.

Perhaps no idea we’ve discussed here in the past few years has created so much interest- and confusion- as the “Urban Igapo” it’s a dynamic, radical departure from what we are all familiar with- and that’s part of the appeal! A chance to learn about a unique transitional habitat, and an opportunity to make mental shifts which will enhance your hobby experience!

WARNING: This podcast may piss you off. It’s my opinion- and I’m quite opinionated- that there are some personality types who you need to be on the alert for in the hobby. People who will bring you down- because that’s what they do best. No sugar coating here! We need to talk about this!

Botanicals have a surprising capability to alter the aquatic environments in which they are placed. How capable? It varies. There is a lot of misunderstanding about what botanicals can and cannot do.let’s give a little time to this topic today!

Algae, biofilms, detritus… words that stroke fear into many hobbyists. Why? Because we’ve always been told that they’re a “problem?” Or because they are REALLY a problem? Perhaps they’re not- and perhaps we simply need to make a mental shift to accept them!

Botanical materials have a profound impact on the aquarium environment and ecosystem. There is so much that we have to learned- yet so much more to really grasp this concept.

Understanding that botanicals- in all of their ephemeral glory- are key components of an aquatic ecology in our aquariums is fundamental to all we do. These materials comprise a “fuel” for all of the biological processes which the fishes and other organisms we keep depend upon.

The botanical-style aquarium is a methodology- an approach to creating ecologically diverse, functional, and aesthetically unique aquariums. Let’s review some of the basic core components of our methodology and philosophy!

One of the best parts of the natural aquarium hobby is studying intersting habitats which can be replicated in the aquarium. The “Morichal” habitats of South America are just such a habitat worth studying and replicating in the aquarium. Home to a diversity of well-known aquarium fishes, and possessing fascinating physical characteristics, the Morichal is a fascinating and exciting habitat to repl...

We talk a lot about feeding fishes and culturing live foods for them in the aquarium hobby. However, we don’t often talk about the idea of setting up aquariums and stocking them based upon the feeding habits of our subject fishes. Let’s open that dialogue!

It comes up a lot: Freshwater hobbyists want to start a reef aquarium, amd they’re immediately intimidated for some reason. And the reefkeeping world, which I’ve been a part of for decades- has done little to kill this myth. Guess it’s time for me to speak up on it!

How much botanical materials should you add to your aquarium- and how many different types? What happens to them in your tank? We’ve covered some of this stuff before, but let’s talk about how much is enough, too much, or just right? Let’s talk about restraint.

Meet the “Monkey Pot”- one of our fave botanicals- one which you should play with in your aquariums!!