# Black water extract



## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

Looking into getting BWE, and wondering if anyone knows a good brand. I tried Kent, which ids all my lfs carries, and it was for the birds. Total waste of money. Anyone know of a brand that atleast works?


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## ruger345 (Jul 8, 2006)

The one in the yellow bottle, but I can't recall who makes it. If someone know the name of it please chime in.:nod:


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

See below......


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

kool, thanks guys.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Instant Amazon is great for breeding projects but will not tint your water.


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## TripDs (Oct 11, 2004)

keep in mind that carbon will remove the tint (i think lol)


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

TripDs said:


> keep in mind that carbon will remove the tint (i think lol)


ALmost positive!


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## dodgybob (Apr 18, 2006)

Leasure1 said:


> Looking into getting BWE, and wondering if anyone knows a good brand. I tried Kent, which ids all my lfs carries, and it was for the birds. Total waste of money. Anyone know of a brand that atleast works?


Its not extract in a liquid form But Ketapang works very well 4 me


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

what is ketapang?


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## dodgybob (Apr 18, 2006)

Leasure1 said:


> what is ketapang?


keta peat

Ketapeat nuggets with ketapang

I could feel my fish relax as this stuff was introduced to the tank

BTW I used to use the yellow bottle above but have switched to the keta stuff


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

yup. carbon took the color right out. ??? it does leave the vitamins and shtuff, right???


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## ruger345 (Jul 8, 2006)

Leasure1 said:


> yup. carbon took the color right out. ??? it does leave the vitamins and shtuff, right???


Yes it does.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Tetra blackwater extract...







!


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## evermore (Oct 7, 2003)

The extract stuff sucks waste of money try some peat granules. much better than some crap that comes in a bottle


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## ruger345 (Jul 8, 2006)

Or you could just add driftwood and not boil it/wash it before you add it. Just rinse it.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

evermore said:


> The extract stuff sucks waste of money try some peat granules. much better than some crap that comes in a bottle


BWE most definitely is not crap, but its usefulness does depend on its intended purpose:

- If you want to soften your water and lower the pH, you'll have to resort to peat (or some chemical crap - personally, I'm not going to touch that stuff witha 10ft pole).
Using peat however does have its downsides, as it means you'll have to constantly monitor the pH, to make sure it remains stable. And since peat looses its effectiveness over time, it also needs to be replaced periodically (which means shutting off the filter that contains it - risky if it's also your biofilter).

- If you just want to enrich your water with vitamins, minerals etc., and give it a slight tea color, BWE in a bottle is perfect. It's easy to dose, and it saves a lot of hassle, like the constant monitoring of the pH and the periodic replacements. It however does not significantly change softness and pH of the water.


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## evermore (Oct 7, 2003)

personlly i think monitoring of a fish tank for Ph ,amonnia and nitrate should be done periodically anyways. also peat should never be used as a primary biomedia . i know from personal experience that bwe will loose effectiveness much faster than peat and cost much more if used on regular basis. there is many more reasons why i like peat more than bwe just don't have time to explain


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

evermore said:


> personlly i think monitoring of a fish tank for Ph ,amonnia and nitrate should be done periodically anyways. also peat should never be used as a primary biomedia . i know from personal experience that bwe will loose effectiveness much faster than peat and cost much more if used on regular basis. there is many more reasons why i like peat more than bwe just don't have time to explain


Peat isn't biomedia - it's a chemical filtration media, to alter the water's characteristics. Using peat (or any other media that needs to be replaced periodically) as biomedia is rather foolish, in my opinion.
As said, peat and BWE have two different purposes and two different ways of affecting the tank's water, so you can't say BWE is crap or useless because it is unsuitable for the purposes people use peat for. It's like saying a car is crap, because it cannot fly...









I'm with you on the money subject, though - I use BWE on my 25 gallon tank, and it is pretty pricey in the long run. But I don't have time to mess around with peat and monitor the tank constantly - so using BWE it's a choice I made.


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