Yeah, I’m going to get some hate.. but someone asked about what I think the worst piece of gear in the hobby is. Those of you who are fans of “The Tint” will know the exactly what I’m going to say- “glassware!” This won’t be pretty. Pour yourself a cocktail as I bring on the hate!

An industry friend, perhaps a bit caught up in the day to day running of his aquatics business, asked me how I stay “in the game”- how you can be a hobbyist when you’re so immersed in the biz.. it made me think- back to a time-just for a while- when I was more of a “clinical” hobbyist- not actually keeping my own tanks, but active in the hobby- and how lost that felt.. and how I got it back!

Well, some of you have asked about my fave suggestions for successful (botanical method) aquariums, so I thought I’d drop a few today! Many are practices and ideas you probably already employ, but it’s never bad to review some of our hobby “best practices” from time to time!

We seem to love “rules” in the aquarium hobby. Hard stops. Checklists.. I say that the only real “rules” applicable to the hobby are those created-and enforced by Nature. But he’ll, what do I know? We’ll, let me tell you…

The lessons of our elders in the hobby teach across the ages. They help guide us in our efforts even today. Don’t ever discount the teachings of those early hobby legends…

A lot of newcomers to our world of botanical method aquariums ask us “Why?” Like, what are the benefits you can how to achieve when you add leaves and seed pods and stuff to your tank? We’ll, let’s talk about it really quickly!

Oh, I’m thinking about reefs again…and I wanted to juts give a tiny bit of advice about my approach- might help a few of you who are thinking of jumping the salinity line!

We get a lot of questions about that “hazy”or slightly cloudy water that often accompanies the tint in botanical method aquariums. It’s often in the early days of the aquarium’s life; but it can happen any time. Let’s try to (metaphorically!) clear things up!

After many decades, I’ve finally gotten comfortable with the idea of changing up tanks more frequently to try new ideas. It was hard for me to make this switch from never touching a tank to rapidly iterating one. Here’s a little info on my rationale….

There is always a lot of confusion and misconceptions about the color of water in botanical method aquariums. And it’s easy to understand why- there is a sort of disconnect between the hobby perception of blackwater habitats and the ecological definition and characteristics of it. Let’s talk a little bit about some of the visual aspects of water in our tanks!