establishing black water

[lannen]

Thanks for answering my last question, and now I have a few more.

It does seem that using a piece of bogwood would be the way to go to get black water, however I don't know if there is any place to get it around here (why I had asked about extract). None of the fish stores here sell bogwood, and nearly all of the local trees are soft wood, pine is about our hardest variety (there are disadvantages to living in a not so big town in the desert). However, I may be able to find some traveling in the near future. Does bogwood eventually lose its ability to "generate" and give off the tannins and other things to create black water? And if so, is there any way to predict at how long a piece will last?

Also, if I do end up going with extract, I have seen several things claiming that it can be good to add a very small amount of black water extract to none black water tanks in order to give some of the minerals to the water for the benefit of fish and plants (these have mostly been promotional things). I was wondering if any one had experience with this, and how it could turn out. The idea seems to make sense, but so would not adding more things to tank water (it would just be more complicated then).

Thanks for your help.

 

[shawmutt]

Does bogwood eventually lose its ability to "generate" and give off the tannins and other things to create black water?

Yes.

And if so, is there any way to predict at how long a piece will last?

No.

When I had my black water tank, I always used the extract. I saw instant results and I knew what chemical compounds I was adding to the water. This was especially important since I was using ro water.

As far as adding black water extract to non-black water tanks: The same effect can be obtained, without the coloration, by adding an electrolyte replacing additive, like ro right or electro-right.

 

[TankGirl]

You can order wood from Floridadriftwood.com, a company I have ordered from many times, and I have always been pleased.

If you want the blackwater effect then you will likely want some kind of wood in there or it won't look right (don't recall if you already have wood or not), but Shawmutt is right - eventually it won't leach anymore and you'll have to add extract anyway. If you already have wood and it is a question of shipping a large, heavy piece of bogwood versus a bottle of extract, then I think mail-ordering the extract makes the most sense.

You can also get Seachem Trace that has none of the peat coloration, but at least in my location the tap water contains these traces (thus the need when using RO water).

 

[lannen]

Well for right now all that I have set up is a five gallon betta tank, and I don't really feel that there is room for wood in there (at least not the large pieces that I find around here). I might have some wood from before (not tannin producing bogwood), or might be able to get some from some one, or at the LFS (they sell only treated wood). I'll look into ordering some bogwood, but it's hard to justify when I can get extract locally. That's something I'll have to think about.

Thanks for telling be about the other mineral/trace replacements, I knew I was forgetting something there. The water here seems to swing as far as being very hard and not so hard once in a while, so it would be good to maintain a more constant level.

 

[deeni0z]

Most LFS will do special orders. You could try asking them about it