blackwater" biotopes"

maybe led downlighters making them adjustible

 

Hi Guys,

I am trying to do some work today and not only foruming.

On the wood from the beach story, you must be careful that it has not been contaminated with oil from ships. Also be careful with soft spots on logs, those can go rotten and cause complications to the fish.

On the leaves issue, there are certainly many trees which would have suitable leaves, but you must be careful because many trees, I would almost say most trees, have leaves that go rotten in no time. I have had very good success with the leaves of pin oaks, normal oaks would also be ok, avocados maybe, pear leaves, but be careful as fruit trees are normally sprayed with insecticide. We do not even have beech trees in SA. Some of our SA trees are toxic, so you have to be careful, things like Tambotie. Blue gum leaves are not good at all because they contain oils which are not toxic, but are certainly not good for fishes. The trick with the leaves is that you must take some out every couple of weeks and squash them with your hands. If you find that they are soft and mushy then take them out and replace them. Oak leaves last about three months maximum, so this is an ongoing process. If you have leaves in your tank it is also good to use a long stick to move them around once a week so that you can see if there are any pockets of uneaten food or accumulation of fish droppings that need to be removed.

I would propose that you use fine pool filter sand. This is the stuff that used by used in filters up until about 5 years ago, now the pool people use coarser sand which is not good because organic particles get into the gravel.

If you want to see what it looks like in nature, lets go for a dive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCDEzthvM4g&feature=related

move the video on to about half way and then you see the fish and habitat pics (sorry about the music Henk....).

Oh yes, and then start working again and STOP DREAMING......

Happy dreams,

Dirk

 

Ok and this is of Henque and Dirque diving in the Amazon. Henk is not the big fish, that is an Arapaima gigas or tiracu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQNP25Xd7wI&feature=related

Dream on.......

No, you are not hearing things, Henque and Dirque both speak fluent French......

 

Im going driftwood shopping

 

No Athol,

Go and have a nice weekend in Sabie or somewhere else in Mpumalanga and find some nice natural logs there, you might just get the wife/girlfriend enthusiastic about your fish tank.....

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I just wanted to share this tank that belongs to a friend of mine.

He wanted to have a "bottom of a lake" type looking tank (his words) with driftwood and a few plants. Unfortunately when I told him I want to take some pics for the forum of his black water tank he got a bit self conscious about the colour of the water and did a major water change. Haha, my fault for not explaining why I wanted to take the pics I suppose. Anyway this tank has been running for some years now and looks its best when the water is dark brown.

Specs: 320l filtered with a canister and a hob. He has 2 tire track eels some kuhli loaches, 3 clown loaches, 1 emperor tetra and a BN plec in there. Substrate is fine black and gray sandy substrate.

Hope y'all enjoy.

 

That ^^^ is a **** big piece of driftwood! :amazed:

 

Ruan,

That is actually not driftwood at all, it is mopani stumps from northern Namibia. It has never really seen water before it was submerged. This is also why those stumps release so much tannins into the water.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

But its safe to say that Mopani is Aquarium safe?

 

Correct Prof, thats 100% mopani. Lots of small pieces put together to look like big stumps.

 

Yes, Mopani is safe, but you still have to be careful with it. It looks all hard but you must still check for soft spots as it can still go rotten.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thank you very much Prof Dirk

I can already see how a few LFS' are rubbing their hands together and licking their lips.

"you guys better fill up at midnight, as the driftwood price is going up by 30%" :bigsmile:

 

as well as the lodges at sabie

 

this one looks so simple like this person pulled out a tree and plonked it in the tank and "voila" amazon biotope.
picture courtesy of AGA INTERNATIONAL AQUARIUM COMPETITION

 

I learned this the hard way!!! Bought myself a bag of silica gravel (pool filter sand) a couple of weeks back (smallest bag is 40kg) and when I opened it, WHAM, massive coarse boulders! I am so disgusted!! Where to now? Because people tell me you can't just go and use river sand. Or can you? I personally feel that if it is good for bass/kurpers and trout, wouldn't it be good enough for angels/kribensis and rams?

 

And yes,

those are the sorts of things that you will find in Sabie (I mean the logs), however, don't try to find things too close to the Krüger Park or you will become either hippo or croc food..... or if things really get bad, the flood may take you to the Mozambique coast...... what a terrible thought, but there they talk schrawbs and popsch, not French.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I've got good 'ol riversand in my tank, no issues so far. The only downside would be that I had to wash it about 50 times to get it clean.

 

There is an outfit that sells the fine filter sand in Brackenfell, I think, I will find out.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

To think that I bought mine in "die einste" Brackenfell!! says 1.1mm on the bag........

 

@PappaBear - I have riversand in my tanks. Like Ruan said, its a PITA to wash, but it looks wonderful... mine has lots of natural shades, and teeny pebbles... I've had no problems with it at all. Plants grow great, fishies with barbels are happy as the proverbial piggies - get mine from the local builders co-op, you should be able to source at a decent plant nursery.

an it's cheap! Paid R15 for a 15dm bag a week or so ago.