Green Tea

[pl*co]

I read through the posts at the link below and tried out the Green Tea approach to homemade "blackwater extract" and dissolved organic carbon.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1528.html

I put one large coffee mug full in my 10 gallon and I must say, the green/gold tint in the water is quite attractive. I have 3-8w florescent tubes (2-18,000K and 1-4200K) above the tank. Each tube is in a separate fixture so that I can control the amount of light. Turning each one off or on and in different combinations makes for a very neat effect, especially if only one 18,000K tube is on. In that mode, it looks very much like a blackwater tank (but with a slightly red cast to it, though not quite as red as in the photo below). The fish don't seem to mind so far. hmmm... might be that I should have put this in the Aquatic Plants forum ... :thud:

http://www.pandk.org/P6170071.jpg

 

[pl*co]

This morning I found that my KH increased from 4 to 5; however, my pH is back up again. I suppose I should have expected this, but I know that over time the organic carbon will lower the pH again .. only very slowly. Meanwhile, I have decreased water movement by the existing airstone. Hopefully, my pH will decrease/KH increase more as a result. I'll just have to wait a bit to see how things shake out.. that is, I anticipate my pH be lower and my KH higher at the same time eventually. In the meantime, the water color is nice and the fish are doing ok.