The Tint

The earth days of a botanical method aquarium seem to follow a set of “benchmarks”; ones which we should be aware of as our tanks break in…let’s discuss..

A lot of you have asked for us to share some “quick hits” on various topics related to botanical method aquariums. What better time than now? Here’s an episode dedicated to “hacks” (gulp) for getting your water tinted quickly and easily!

Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve discussed maintenance of botanical method aquariums… Let’s revisit this topic and the simple, yet important tasks required to keep them running and looking their best!

I’m not a big “too 10” kind of guy as you know, but I take copious notes about all sorts of aspects of the aquarium hobby. And over the years, I found an interesting commonality among the most successful hobbyists and their aquariums. In this “quick hit”, let’s review them! How many of these traits do you or your tank embrace?

Today, we do something a little different. We talk about a recent botanical method aquarium that we created specifically to get more people into this little speciality. We talk about the idea, the setup, and the management of this fun aquarium!

Yeah it’s time to revisit the art and science of botanical preparation. With so many new hobbyists venturing into botanical method aquariums, we’re asked about this all the time.. and there’s a lot of confusion on this stuff! Let’s revisit the process of botanical preparation!

Sometimes, people ask me to give opinions and talk about things on my mind, to tell stories, relay favorite memories, or give opinions.. amd their is what happens!!!

Our friend, detritus has been maligned for decades as “bad” in aquariums. I once again rush to the defense of detritus, and even pay a small tribute to Geos in the process! What more could you want?

Like most of you, I have a number of fishes which are obsessions of mine. And interestingly, when I analyze it, I’ve found some interesting commonalities among them that help explain why!

I preach a radical form of patience when managing botanical method aquariums. I also maintain that you can and should make changes- even rather radical ones- if you feel the need. There is a way to let your tank evolve naturally, even when making such changes. You can switch a design- you can’t interrupt Nature’s processes. It’s a sort of “yin-yang” thing… let’s talk about what happens along the w...

Yeah, the idea of creating unique substrates from. Lays, sediments, and soils, or adding botanical “stuff” to our substrates is too much for this geek to resist. Our little hobby niche has benefited from all sorts of interesting experiments with substrates. Let’s revisit what we know about the cutting edge work with weird aquatic substrates!

Our unique botanical method aquariums have a few characteristics and “behaviors” that you can almost “depend on” as they establish themselves, don’t they? Let’s revisit a few here!

The beginner in the aquarium hobby may have an advantage over us “vets…” he/she/them are not burdened by their own experience. Everything is new and exciting. They operate in an environment where sheer joy becomes the driving force. We can learn from beginners, can’t we?

We seem to treasure moving super fast in this hobby. We like to share a lot of pics of new tanks.. the “exciting” stuff.. and we like to get to “finished” so we can move on to the next one. Why? Let’s talk about it!

Everyone knows that Loricariid catfishes consume wood, right? Well, Do they? Let’s discuss this stuff, and maybe go off in some new directions!

Yeah, once again, I make my case for fungi- those gooey, nasty little organisms you see all over your wood and botanicals. They’re one of nature’s most elegant life forms.. and we should embrace them and what they do for our tanks!

What’s behind our mindset-our philosophy of the botanical-method aquarium? We get asked that a lot…Let’s take a closer look at our ideas, our practice, and it’s implications for our animals…

Man, I tend to change my mind on hobby stuff now and then. I will often start a tank, only to break it right down and “pivot” before ultimately arriving at what I really wanted to do. Does this sound familiar to you?

Leaves are critical and key components in the botanical method aquarium. They’re the literal “fuel” which powers the ecology of our tanks.. and yeah, they’re not the best materials to use strictly for aesthetics! There’s so much more to them!

Yeah, we’ve talked about it before, but it’s becoming more and more obvious that botanical-method aquariums are capable of providing supplemental food to our fishes. It’s entirely possible to create and manage a sort of “food web” in your botanical-influenced aquarium. Time to get our heads around this!

Advice is a tricky thing. You can get a lot of it in the hobby. Some is good. Some is completely awful. And we love to blame the “LFS guy or gal” for it. That’s a shame, because most of the worst information you can receive is NOT from the LFS employer. Let’s talk about this touch subject- shall we?

Damn, we place some much emphasis on filters, and a big reinvent on polishing the crap (literally) out of our tanks that we end up fighting Nature in the process. I think we’d all do well to work with natural processes to keep our tanks ecologically healthy. Let’s talk about it!

On the surface, a botanical method aquarium is pretty simple to establish. A leaf litter focused aquarium is the easiest type of botanical method aquarium to get into. It sort of “teaches” you everything to know about running this type of tank. Let’s revisit the idea again!

In those exciting early days of the botanical method aquarium, it’s not uncommon to encounter cloudy water, or massive growth of fungal filaments or biofilm on your leaves, botanicals, and wood. It’s so contradictory to everything we’ve been told is “normal”, “safe”, and “acceptable” in aquariums. Yet, this time- and the actions that we DON’T take to “correct” these things- will have profound impa...

As we launch our “V2.0” brackish water mangrove tank, let me take the opportunity to arrogantly trash everything you’ve heard about how to create a brackish aquarium in the past. Yeah, it ain’t pretty…but you might learn a few things and rethink the way you execute a brackish tank! Part one of what will likely be a two- parter!