# Blackwater Tank



## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Well, the wait for the plants got to be too long, so I decided to go a different route... This is going to be a blackwater tank with high current, low light, lots of driftwood, and no root plants.

The tank isn't done yet, I still need to find some more driftwood and I would like to add some leaf litter, but I figured I'd post a pic of what I have gotten done so far. The water is still pretty cloudy, but you can get a pretty good idea of the scape.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

Cool but I would add some low light plants like crypts or anubias just to give it some life


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

those wouldn't really fit into the biotope... i think it'll look good when everything comes together, i might add some floating plants to help add some color tho.


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

I think this will be a sweet looking tank when you get done with it. I donno if I would add low light plants either, just stuff you can float like densa, wisteria, hornwort, and whatever else.

How long will peat keep releasing tannins?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

rather than putting peat in the tank or filter, i'm actually making my own "blackwater extract" and adding it to the tank so i can have more control of the water params.


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Those are some nice peices of wood joe, I def like the look of it


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

thanks man, i think this tank is gonna be nice and low maintenance. i wanted to plant it, but i am going to be getting a brand new 75 to replace this one and a 125, so things will be getting moved around again soon and it would have sucked to have bought a bunch of plants only to rip them right out.


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## Lifer374 (Dec 5, 2003)

Wow Joe. A+ on the driftwood. Looks really nice.

Did you collect it yourself or purchase it somewhere?

I may just end up totally copying you with a look similar to this one.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

i bought most of this stuff... i wanted some chunky pieces for the base, now i'm gonna go out and collect some smaller branchy pieces to fill in. the big pile on the left actually hides the powerhead, i have it positioned in the bottom left corner shooting through a tunnel in the driftwood in the same direction as the output from the sump so it creates a nice strong current across the whole tank from top to bottom.


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

nice, but I'd def add more plants to give it a more natural look


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

the_w8 said:


> nice, but I'd def add more plants to give it a more natural look


the lack of plants is a more natural look for a blackwater river


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## skylute3 (Nov 30, 2007)

looks awesome...real natural, but I'm more a fan of open water swimming...unless u got smaller guys....what's goin in there neway? How big of tank? What's dimensions? Badass driftwood


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

the tank is just a standard 75 with a 48x18 footprint... there is only one fish in there and he has plenty of open swimming space. it looks more crowded than it actually is, i'll try to take some pics tomorrow from different angles so you can see how much open space there is.


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

im liking your idea joe. should be sweet looking when its done


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## Guest (Oct 26, 2009)

Looking good Joe as usual







Cant wait to see the final project


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## Slay (May 2, 2003)

how do you make your own blackwater extract?
just soak peat moss in water and then separate the water and concentrate?


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## phenomenerd (Oct 8, 2009)

like the idea!


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## philbert (Mar 8, 2007)

i really like that driftwood


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Slay said:


> how do you make your own blackwater extract?
> just soak peat moss in water and then separate the water and concentrate?


i just boil peat moss and then pour it through cloth to strain out all the sticks, peat moss, and big particles... i made about 3 gallons and i've been slowly adding more each day until i get it to where i want it.

thanks for the compliments guys, the water is clear today, so i'll try to take some more pics tonight


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## philbert (Mar 8, 2007)

what will you be stocking?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

my rhom is already in there, he was checking out the little caves and tunnels in the driftwood when i took the pic. as the tank gets more filled out, i might add a couple small chaetostoma or ancistrus since they will have plenty of places to hide and i'd really like to add some tetras even tho i know i'll be constantly replacing them.


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## philbert (Mar 8, 2007)

thats cool. i don't bother with dithers anymore, but i think all the hiding spots will work well.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

that's kind of my thinking... i also figure it will be a way to add some color and life to the tank since i won't have any root plants in there.


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## philbert (Mar 8, 2007)

some of that java moss would look good growing on all that driftwood.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

i have a ton of java moss just sitting in an empty ten gallon right now, so it's always an option for the future, i took it off one of the pieces that's in there because it looked kinda bad, but the water was pretty murky.


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## Slay (May 2, 2003)

if you want other fish, you should try neets (neetrapu.....)
i've always had success keeping them with my larger rhom, i don't know about smaller rhoms though.


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

Joe, it looks nice.

I can see the rhom in there right under the big piece driftwood


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

thanks man, i'm actually gonna take a couple more pics now that the tank has cleared up, it looks much better now.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

joedizzlempls said:


> nice, but I'd def add more plants to give it a more natural look


the lack of plants is a more natural look for a blackwater river
[/quote]
Not true dude crypts are all over the blackwater parts of the amazon


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

ok, here's a better full tank shot, my rhom is posing front and center this time. i definitely need to give this tank a good cleaning, dust from the sand has attached itself to some of the surfaces in the tank and it looks terrible...









here is a shot of the side of the tank, you can see the powerhead hidden in the driftwood...


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Trigga said:


> nice, but I'd def add more plants to give it a more natural look


the lack of plants is a more natural look for a blackwater river
[/quote]
Not true dude crypts are all over the blackwater parts of the amazon
[/quote]

as far as i know, the entire cryptocoryne genus is native to asia

they are found in blackwater regions in asia tho


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

sh*t yeah your right i knew that lol


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Looks great and the rhom seems to like it


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## alyt (Oct 16, 2009)

this looks so great!


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

thanks... when i make a little more progress, i'll get some better pictures taken, these are god awful


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