Blackwater Extract

[penguinpimp1990]

im buying a compressus piranha next monday and ive pimped out the tank, bought a hella expensive wet/dry filter, fancy background, titanium heater for the sump area, awesome looking gravel, and the whole 9 yards..... (just havent bought the wood and plants yet) but since my piranha likes acidic blackwater, i was thinking on buy some of that blackwater extract stuff that people use with discus and stuff.... first off is it worth the money, how much does it lower your pH, and how much tanins are released as i hate tea colored water? and would carbon take out the tanins?

 

[Dorkhedeos]

well, if you put carbon in, itll take out the blackwater extract wouldnt it? i would say its worth the money

 

[The-Wolf]

blackwater will not lower the pH significantly on its own
it it best used in conjunction with peat in the filter.
carbon will counter act the blackwater.

in summary remove carbon and replace with peat.
HTH

 

[CFC]

Buying blackwater extract is expensive and unessesary, you can make your own by boiling aquarium or organic peat with fallen dried oak and beech leaves in a muslin sack in the largest pot you can find (notice the N, i do not support the boiling of muslims). Leave the mixture boiling until the water in the pot is a rich dark colour (by the way i would advise opening all windows and shutting doors to the rest of the house while doing this). Allow the extract to cool and then store it in a bottle in the fridge to ensure its freshness. This creates litres of blackwater extract for a fraction of the cost of a small bottle at the lfs.