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Blackwater Aquariums
Blackwater Aquariums
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Source: Randall W. Myster – Igapo (black-water flooded forests) of the Amazon basin
Source: Randall W. Myster – Igapo (black-water flooded forests) of the Amazon basin
But what is silt and how is it different from the sand? Silt is something between sand and clay made
of quards and feldspar. It is a fine sand, clay or other decomposited material which settles down as a
sediment.
Comparing the grain particle size the silt has a medium diameter between sand (with the biggest
diameter) and clay (the lowest diameter) being like a playdoh while in contact with water.
• Acai Palm
• Buriti (moriche palm)
• Urticaceae (stinging nettle)
• Rubiaceae (coffee)
• Spurges
• Cecropia Membranacea
• Sapium Glandulosum
• Pauromma,
• Guianensis
• Byrsonima Arthropoda
• Legume tree
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Remember you don’t have to add live plants while creating biotope of blackwater in your aquarium,
but if you choose to do so, the plants which you could use in the aquarium to as an addition to home
made blackwater aquarium, tank are all sort of low light plants such as:
• Anubias (araceae family), barteri, afzelii, gigantea, gilletii, gracilis, hastifolia, heterophylla,
pynaertii
• Java Fern (leptochilus pteropus – microsorum pteropus)
• Amazon Sword (Echinodorus grisebachii)
• Floating plants – amazon frogbit ( limnobium laevigatum), water lettuce,
• Cryptocoryne (affinis – araceae family)
• Water sprite (ceratopteris thalictroides)
• Cabomba (cabombaceae – fanwort)
• Red tiger lotus (nymphaea zenkeri)
• Bucephalandra
• Echinodorus family
• Emersed growing plants like hydrocotyle tripartita japan (apiaceae family) on top of the water
sitting on the piece of wood with roots going down the water or Brazilian pennywort
(hydrocotyle leucocephala).
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Plants species growing in the flooded area shows a different type of phenological, anatomical,
physiological and morphological adaptations in leaves, stems and roots in order to survive periodic
floods.
You can choose fish like discus or angelfish, dwarf cichlids or small schooling fish like tetras, as well
as catfish, plecos, for your aquarium. Fish in acidic conditions shows amazing colors and will behave
differently in the aquarium which is more like their natural habitat. Especially if you bought a wild fish.
The fish also helps with fertilizing water by their poop and helps the plants by exhaling the carbon
dioxide.
It is proved that the humic acids provides benefits to the fish health. They stay in better health and
heal quickly while exposed to those beneficial substances. It promotes disease resistance and helps
in re-growing damaged fins and skin. It is also proved by a betta fish keepers who condition water
with almond leaves. I really recommend Inglorious Betta Youtube channel to all betta fish keepers.
Fish will look more spectacular in the soft water, as it is their natural habitat, and will reveal their best
colors.
Every each of those setups will have a different substrate, lighting, water flow and chemical water
conditions, as well as, food and fish and plants species.
According to biotope-aquarium.info reflecting a natural environment in the biotope aquarium
like blackwater aquarium can be separated to 3 criteria:
1. Geographical aquarium fish and plants belong only to the certain area of the world.
2. Ecological, all fish and plants live in similar water and environment conditions.
3. Species related, certain conditions of water that the species need and live in nature without
connecting it to the area of origin.
‘An Aquarium is an artificial ecosystem, consisting of biotope (environment) and biocenosis (living
organisms). Their selection, combination and compliance to a nature biotope need to be evaluated
using the following criteria:’
Source: biotope-aquarium.info
To imitate the blackwater environment you need a botanical materials and specific substrate. You
could consider getting special additives specific for the area you are aiming for or making it yourself
from half-products such as leaves, twigs, pieces of wood, brushwood etc. There is at least 25
different kind of leaves which you can easily buy in US from the aquarium related website.
Adding a substrate additive works well and mixing those additives with the substrate will function
better and be more realistic. Adding certain amount of clay into the substrate and mixing it together
to achieve natural proportion occurring in the area which you are trying to replicate. Coconut coir
with the substrate will look natural and for sure benefit the whole ecosystem.
Coco palm bracts will add something special and release even more tannings into the tank
Source: tanningaquatics.com
Different driftwood is also found in the flooded area. The most common pieces of wood to use are:
weathered driftwood, redmoor wood, Sumatran driftwood, marsh root, alder wood, apple wood,
beech woods (dried and presoaked), birch wood, cherry wood, hawthorn wood, heather wood, oak
wood, pear wood, sycamore wood. All the wood needs to be dried out by the sun so it does not have
any juice in it. It is always good to presoak the wood and do a bath in bleach solution to remove
unwanted hitchhikers, bacteria, fungus or algae.
EXAMPLES OF BLACKWATER AQUARIUMS