My current 140 liter blackwater setup

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Blackwater guru

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This is my current blackwater setup after more oak leaves have been added and now I am waiting for the tannins to settle in which might take a while.

I currently have corydoras duplicareus , octocinclus catfish along with cardinal tetras and marbled hatchetfish.

I can simply cannot wait to see how it will look after the tannins have started to be released.

What do you think of this setup?
 
I don’t think you will see any tannins, unless you add about 50 more leaves and a bunch more wood
 
I concur, add more wood and boil the leaves. The tank looks good so far. Is that a Java Fern in the back right corner?
 
I concur, add more wood and boil the leaves. The tank looks good so far. Is that a Java Fern in the back right corner?
from what I know it is not a java fern but I do not remember the name and all I do know is that it is from asia
 
I am actually considering either adding enough leaves or boiling the leaves to make a tannin extract to add to my existing leaves.

Boiling leaves and then adding the tinted water will obviously tint the aquarium water quicker than waiting for the leaves in the tank to do this, but I personally would not do this for a couple of reasons. Primarily, leaves not only release tannins, they have incredible bacterial benefits. I have been told that boiling them can remove this benefit, whereas placing the dried leaf in the tank and letting it slowly decompose adds the bacterial benefit. If you add the tinted water, you will need to do this at every water change. And, the more leaves you have lying on the substrate, the more natural the aquascape will appear to you and the fish. Many creeks and streams in the tropical areas where our fish come from have a thick litter of dead leaves covering the substrate. This darkens the substrate which fish "expect," as well as providing a natural substrate. And the tannin and bacterial benefits.

EDIT. FallenPepper's subsequent post reminded me of another reason not touse the boiled leaves water...too rapid a pH change is more likiely. With leaves in the tank it is a gradual process, somewhat held in check by GH/KH if these are significant. But even without, the pH will be a more natural shift.

You do need a lot of leaves. Depending upon how quickly they decompose, you will be adding more periodically. You want to be doing weekly partial water changes of 50-70% of the tank volume, which will obviously remove much of the tint. A couple of leaves boiled to keep the tint much the same at water changes might be worth it, but I would still have a good layer of leaves and maintain it. The rate of decomposition varies, and you can leave the leaves and let them completely decompose (adding more periodically of course) or remove them when they become sort of skeletal, that's up to you. I tend to leave them.
 
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This was 5 almond leaves boiled for a 75g and i got this amount of tannins. Only took 10 minutes then letting it cool for about an hour with some ice added. Watch your ph though add something to stabilize it it could drop your ph with too many too quick but in general you should be fine
 

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Boiling leaves and then adding the tinted water will obviously tint the aquarium water quicker than waiting for the leaves in the tank to do this, but I personally would not do this for a couple of reasons. Primarily, leaves not only release tannins, they have incredible bacterial benefits. I have been told that boiling them can remove this benefit, whereas placing the dried leaf in the tank and letting it slowly decompose adds the bacterial benefit. If you add the tinted water, you will need to do this at every water change. And, the more leaves you have lying on the substrate, the more natural the aquascape will appear to you and the fish. Many creeks and streams in the tropical areas where our fish come from have a thick litter of dead leaves covering the substrate. This darkens the substrate which fish "expect," as well as providing a natural substrate. And the tannin and bacterial benefits.

EDIT. FallenPepper's subsequent post reminded me of another reason not touse the boiled leaves water...too rapid a pH change is more likiely. With leaves in the tank it is a gradual process, somewhat held in check by GH/KH if these are significant. But even without, the pH will be a more natural shift.

You do need a lot of leaves. Depending upon how quickly they decompose, you will be adding more periodically. You want to be doing weekly partial water changes of 50-70% of the tank volume, which will obviously remove much of the tint. A couple of leaves boiled to keep the tint much the same at water changes might be worth it, but I would still have a good layer of leaves and maintain it. The rate of decomposition varies, and you can leave the leaves and let them completely decompose (adding more periodically of course) or remove them when they become sort of skeletal, that's up to you. I tend to leave them.
I am gonna add 20 to 30 oak leaves to the tank but I am not sure if that would be enough and I am also going to add oak driftwood intead of the birch driftwood that did not release anything.
 
If you can get rooibos tea that works really well. I used to boil up a few bags in a mug and add the resultant water to my tank
  • It is not tea at all - just a dried leaf that people use to make an infusion
  • It contains nothing but tannin - it won't even change your pH
  • Don't waste your money on buying the organic version. The plant is so delicate it can't be grown any other way
 
My view is that they look dirty and unless you explain it to everyone else they will think it's poorly kept, just my view.
 

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