Blackwater Extract?

[themagpie]

Hello again. I was wondering what everyone thinks about blackwater extracts. When i started up my tank I hadn't really put any consideration into prefered substrates. I ended up getting some moderatly dark gravel/stuff... whatever its called . I have some pretty large assorted sword plants that seem to provide a good deal of hiding places for the fish and a black background for the tank. It seems like the fish are more active/less timid when I leave the light off (their colours also seem to come out more). With the lights off, instead of staying at the bottom all the time they explore from the bottom to middle areas(they also hide less). I'm using a 13 watt flourecent light that I use for about 6-9 hours or so a day. I try to keep the number of hours down because the fish seem happier that way. I'd like to leave it on longer so i can see them better (and for the plants). I was wondering if it would be a good idea to use some of that blackwater extract to darken it up a bit. Would it maybe be a good idea to put a small layer of dark substrate on top of the current stuff?

 

[Skyrmir]

I've seen the stuff myself but didn't really think it was worth it. A fresh piece of Mopani wood will do the same thing for a nice long time. Boil it once to kill off anything living on it, then drop it in the tank once it cools. Be ready to do regular water changes if it gets a bit dark. At first it can turn a tank into a tea color, it mellows out after a while though.

I added the wood to bring my ph down a bit myself. That will be a little concern when you add it. If you already have a low ph, or a really low GH it will drop even further. It's usually not much, mine dropped from 7.4 down to 7.0-7.2 from 7.6ph tap water.

 

[shawmutt]

I used it in my Amazon tank. It looks fine for instant cloudy water, but like skymir said a piece of wood will last longer and looks nicer.