Making Black Water

[dan2x38]

I was thinking of setting up a little system to make black water. I have all the stuff be almost plug & play. I was thinking of pumping water from a tub on the floor into a tub on a stand. The water would drip through a tray with pet and/or almond/oak leaves then drain into the lower tub. Would treat the water with Prime. Strain of course it would be pre heated and aerated as well as matured. Leave it running continually to add to my breeder tanks so I'd have a constant supply.

Anyone done anything similar? Or have you seen such a set-up? I think it work well and pay off well for breeding. Looking for ideas/opinions.

[bitterman]

Dan we had a speaker talk do doing something very similar (Frank Aguirre)... he even used pine cones. Treating water running though things like this will lower the ph and make it more suitable for some fish. Some items even have anti-bacterial properties.

He did not use prime as the area he is from only had chlorine in the water so given time it would naturally evaporate (we are not so luck here in Ottawa). Remember the pictures from the presentation? Large water holding tanks? Big screen full of  stuff?

Why don't you see if Frank can provide you the information on what he does. He's a very helpful and informative guy.

B

[fischkopp]

Dan we had a speaker talk do doing something very similar (Frank Aguirre)... he even used pine cones.

I think that where the idea comes from. I found it an very interesting idea as well and would setup something if I just would have the space for it.

As said, I haven't done it myself, but that's what I was thinking: The most simple way of realizing this is just one (better two more, depending on your water needs) big plain bucket to hold and age the water. You could a HOB or canister filter to it to run peat or whatever magic natural products to soften and blacken the water. The more buckets, the longer you can age the water. You would only need to run your peat filter for a couple of days, then you could move it to the bucket with new water. A pump is probably useful when it comes to move the water from the bucket to the tank.

From there you can start thinking of a more sophisticated automated setup ... I really liked the idea of draining a tank through the bottom pane and filling it with a simple tube system ... 

[pminister]

Just curious why are we making black water? Aside from making soft water and other wonderfull things that i am not aware of............but back to my original questions. sup with the black water craze?

[artw]

well it looks really cool in an aquarium, for one thing

[smalltownfan]

Dan, this enough?

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[dan2x38]

That is awesome. It should be Inever used them before. Our last speaker said he uses them to lower the pH in his black water. Do you come to town or will I have to come out there?

[pminister]

But which fishes swim in dark waters as well as very soft water? Let alone wouldnt you want to see your fishes ?

[dan2x38]

South American fish... the water is not black you can see the fish just fine. The water is more of a tea colour. It adds to their colour in some cases. It helps make it as a biotope tank. My usuage is for breeding.

[pminister]

That is neat i always wanted to create more of a proper biotope for the the fishes i have, or i intend on having in the near future. Especially the more i read up, on improving my aquarium skills 

Btw i found few links that might inrtrest, just got me googling around about black water n south american fish.


http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope_rio_sucasari.htm [ black water creek ]

http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope_amazon_blackwater.htm [ black water stream ]

Can't wait for tank pictures.

[dan2x38]

The tanks are not that pretty they are breeding tanks...  Thanks for the links.