Blackwater ?

[sajica]

Hello just wanted to know your thoughts on this ,how do you keep/prefer your water i personaly like to have a darkwater/blackwater set up with plenty of bog/currio and vine root in my tanks as i feel this make my fish feel more at home

however many of my friends like to have chystal clear water and find my set up repulsive and too dark

ill post some pics as soon as im happy with my set up

id like to know how you guys /girls feel about this subject

thanks

Sajica

 

[jayjay]

Depends what fish I'm keeping, I like to use bogwood in most of my tanks, though I don't have that many tannins in the water.

 

[The-Wolf]

blackwater should only be used for those fish that come blackwater environments like the black Amazon and its tributaries
it should defiantly not be used for fish from fast flowing mountain streams of African cichlids

 

[sajica]

blackwater should only be used for those fish that come blackwater environments like the black Amazon and its tributaries
it should defiantly not be used for fish from fast flowing mountain streams of African cichlids

thanks wolf for the reply the fish i have in the blackwater tank are my baby green terrors

i was asking the question as there seams to be alto of discus related topics on here and as discus are from these waters i was wondering if they were in blackwater set ups or not and what are peoples opions on keeping said south american fishes such as angles discus and acras in water more to the natural environmebt(however most are tank reared anyway ) apart from some really beautiful wild caught brown discus i seen in bolton

 

[The-Wolf]

it would most certainly be of benefit to discus, who like the lower pH and the tannins that blackwater adds.
angels would also do very well in blackwater and any other fish from that area of South America.

At my old workplace all our discus were in a blackwater tank and many a customer commented on how
healthy they looked compared to other shops (I suspect others kept in clear water)

if you wish to enhance the blackwater effect then add peat to your filter, however the pH will need to be
monitored every other day because after a time the pH will start to creep back up as the effectiveness of the peat 'washes' out,
usually IME around the 5-6 week mark. as soon as you notice the pH start to rise then change half the peat

 

[sajica]

thanks for the advice wolf ive used peat before and found it very good i also have to aggree that discus in blackwater look very healthy

 

[kev_kb]

Discus do not need blackwater, they require soft water but I don't think they really benefit all that much from blackwater. If they did you'd see breeders breeding and murky tanks, and I don't think many do at all. Also, if you kept the discus in blackwater as found in the wild you'd not be able to see much in the tank.

 

[sajica]

Discus do not need blackwater, they require soft water but I don't think they really benefit all that much from blackwater. If they did you'd see breeders breeding and murky tanks, and I don't think many do at all. Also, if you kept the discus in blackwater as found in the wild you'd not be able to see much in the tank.

fair comment im glad for your reply as i want as many peoples opions as i can and like you said most discus breeders use clear waters is this because most discus in the hobby are farm/tank reared fish and are conditioned to this type of water as their parent/granparents and so on have been bred selectivly(sp) and are more accustomed to "normal" tank conditions ???

 

[kev_kb]

Could well be, when it comes to breeding the hardness of the water is the most important factor.

 

[The-Wolf]

all I'll add is that any wild caught discus my old place of work imported from South America
always arrived in not only blackwater but also had almond leaves in the bag too.