Black water?

[Only200]

How do u make a black water setup

 

[nanofish]

For mine I just used tons of driftwood and a large number of oak and indian almond leaves. It gives me a nice tannin stained effect but isn't so dark that I can't see the fish. Peat filtration is another option but one I'd prefer not to deal with.

 

[Only200]

Where do I get that stuff and what type of options do you have with black water

 

[nanofish]

The driftwood I bought only but you can find it at pet stores and it's even possible to make your own. I chose Malaysian dw since it would sink right away. The indian almond leaves I bought off ebay but it might be possible to find even cheaper on aquabid. The oak leaves were just fallen leaves I got off the ground this fall.
Options as in fish? Tons actually and way too many to name. Are there certain ones you're interested in?

 

[Only200]

I used to have a piranha and I was thinking that would be perfect for one but I've already done that I have a 50gal breeder that I'm not doing anything with I've never seen one set up with black water. I would just want to do something out of the ordinary

 

[nanofish]

I have a 40 gallon breeder and just am going with community fish from South America. Even with that I had way too many options to chose from. I like options though. There is also a bunch of Asian species that come from balckwater environments.

Kind of simple looking but here's what my tank looks like. You can't really see the tan water though.

 

[Only200]

Nice tank I'm going to have to do some more research on which fish to go for I'm thinking of another predatory tank.

 

[nanofish]

Leaf fish maybe? Since you don't want to do more piranhas.

 

[Only200]

That a cool looking fish how long have you had your blackwater set up

 

[nanofish]

I've only had it set up for about 3 months. Going good so far though. I have a whole garbage bag full of leaves to use that should last me the entire year at the rate I'm using them.

 

[Only200]

Do you have to clean the leaves and how long can you keep them in your tank

 

[nanofish]

I've had those leaves in the entire time, well some of them actually longer since I had some in while I was fishless cycling. They're breaking down a little but not overly much. I don't have anything that really rough on them. I actually plan to just leave them in. I do keep an eye on my filter to make sure it doesn't get clogged. Haven't had a problem yet. I didn't clean them either. Just tossed them in and let them sink. My red lizard whiptails seem to love the biofilm on them.