I been using "Indian Almond Leaves" to get the "Blackwater Extract" effects for my fish.
But it seems not to last that long, like my filter just filter it all out after a week or two.
The color will be brown for a while then turn back to crystal clear.
So I was wondering if any one can help me on how to make the water stay brown and keep the effects.
You can make blackwater extract easily enough but not in a tank, and you need a stronger source than driftwood .. First , get a bag of Indian almond leaves (Catappa). Get a two gallon pot and out in at least 50 well washed leaves per gallon. Fill with dechorinated water and weight the leaves down with an inert stone of one day. boil the pot for 15 minutes, let sit another day, then boil again for 15 minutes. the liquid should be thick brown and fragrant.Filter through coffee paper, store in bottles and cool.
To make a blackwater tank, you can use good peat or Indian Almond leaves parboiled, washed, picked of strands, and stuffed into a Penguin Cartridge which you have made holes in the hard side and put in tufts of 100% polyfill secured by rubber bands with the padding and carbon removed. Slide this back into your filter. within a couple of days your tank should start to look like tea. this is the blackwater forming.
Make sure you are not using any carbon in your filter, that will absorb the organic tannins and clear up the water. Water changes of course take it out as well.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Otherwise, you need to keep adding stuff. It's like brewing a pot of tea, eventually all the "tea" comes out of the leaves, and you have to get new tea leaves.
Driftwood helps as it's a much bigger chunk of material, so it takes much longer to leach the tannins out.
You can also just collect leaves, Oak is generally a good choice. Get a big bag of dry leaves in the fall and it should last all year. Free in the back yard or local park.
You can also use peat moss, just buy it from the garden centre. A few $ $ for a big bag.
Remember what you are trying to replicate. A small stream in the Amazon jungle. All sorts of leaves and sticks are falling in there all the time, and that's what stains the water brown.
Ian
Drift wood made my friend's oscar tank turn tea-brown for a few months.
