The Tint

The third part in an occasional series about how I establish my own botanical method tanks. A look at the first steps, including practical and philosophical approaches. Hopefully, you glean a few bits of knowledge from this one!

Aquatic plants. My old nemesis. Until very recently, they’re the one part of the aquarium hobby that never really resonated with me. Yet, so many of you ask about planted botanical method tanks and tinted water that I just HAD to talk about them again! Let’s talk about them from a philosophical, practical, and “ecology first” perspective. Let’s discuss the oft-misunderstood teachings of Amano and reconsider the magic that’s possible when “green meets brown” in our aquariums!

As the botanical method aquarium movement evolves, we’re starting to develop “best practices”, ideas, processes, and classifications that help us communicate within our growing community. Let’s discuss my simple system for classifying botanical materials, and how they influence the chemical, physical, and ecological parameters of our tanks. It’s an exciting time, and everyone can contribute to this amazing hobby specialty!

I love fish breeders. The employ mad skills, create great systems, and do awesome things, all in efforts to control the process. I can’t help but wonder if just doing what we do- creating environmentally focused natural aquariums- can accomplish some of the same things…with a little luck thrown in?

Occasionally, we all need reassurances. Affirmations that this weird approach to aquariums is somehow the right move. The hobby in general doesn’t always understand or even appreciate what we do. That’s what this little segment is all about. A sort of reminder that the practices which we engage in are useful, interesting, and game changing on many ways…if we’re bold enough to keep going.

There are lots of fishes which are abundant in the wild; yet, which for some reason, we seldom if ever see in aquariums. Yet, these enigmatic fishes keep us searching, hopeful that one day they’ll show up “accidentally” at the LFS. Perhaps some have more common “analogs…” perhaps others, we’ll simply have to keep dreaming of. Here are a few of my “dream fishes”…

Rain is literally the “bearer of life.” And what happens in the wild habitats of our fishes when it rains is compelling and fascinating… and absolutely reproducible in our aquariums! A few quick thoughts on rain…

We’ve talked about deploying what I call “radical patience” with our aquariums for years… but the idea makes sense! Waiting a bit longer to add fishes to our botanical method aquariums can yield real, tangible benefits. We’re developing little ecosystems in our tanks, so why not do it in a way that yields the best possible benefits for the fishes we keep? Let’s talk about some strategies to deploy “radical patience” in your next botanical method aquarium build.

Aquatic habitats in Nature go through profound seasonal changes. The fishes which reside within them have adapted to these changes- altering their spawning and feeding habits to take advantage of the resources available to them at different times of the year. What is there to be gained by replicating seasonal changes in our aquariums- in essence- “operating” them? Let’s talk about it!

The concept of “food webs” is an elegant and fascinating ecological construct- one which we’ve talked about a lot over the years. I think that botanical method aquariums are ideally suited to foster and maintain food webs- if we let them occur. Let’s talk a bit more about the idea!