black water

[malken]

I was at the lfs yesterday and saw a product promising to produce blackwater conditions. This is the first I've ever heard of blackwater so I have a general question.


What is it to have blackwater conditions?

and

Why would one want to have these conditions?

I ask largely because the bottle says it's supposed to be good for angels and I was wondering If I might be doing something wrong.


thanks.

 

[Star_Rider]

blackwater or blackwater extract is suppose to imitate the blackwater conditions some Sa cichlids are found in it is helpful for wild angels and wild discus even some discus not many generations away from wild lines.

it is not necessary for most dometically reared fish as many have adapted to water that is not black water.

btw blackwater refers to the tannins etc that are released from the conditions where angels, discus and others come from..their environment can vary a bit but usually is dark loaded with driftwood and leaf litter(which adds to the 'blackwater')

 

[jflng]

I think I've read that you can make your own by sticking peat in a coffee brewer.
You might want to research this before trying. It might have come from a dream I had.

 

[Lupin]

Other alternatives are peat, driftwoods and Indian almond leaves (see my blog or FW articles). Driftwoods do not release heavy amount of tannins over a long time but continuously replacing almond leaves does. Blackwater extracts are, in my opinion, more expensive and not necessary as star_rider mentioned.

 

[malken]

Okay, so I guess this product isn't for me since i'm pretty sure my angel was captive bred. I have one big piece of driftwood and one small one incase he may need the small amount of tannins.

thanks for the quick replies

 

[jm1212]

adding driftwood is more desirable, because it allows the water to become softer slowly and be stable at the new pH, while with chemicals it will fluctuate.