Tannin tea anyone? :-P

[Melissa]

I have a new group of wilds in a 60 gallon tank (6 heckels! :) ), a thin layer of sand on the bottom, and the only filtration is a cycled sponge filter, I do daily water changes with aged tap water, ph 8.2! I want to make my lovely new additions feel at home and I really want to soften the water naturally and achieve that tea colored look... So I've been reading about peat and almond leaves and driftwood and all of that trying to decide how to go about doing it.

I just finished boiling a large piece of driftwood to sanitize it to put into the tank and I was thinking about all of those wonderful tannins sitting in my huge stock pot on the stove right now! Is there a way I could strain the water and use it?

I have a magnum canister filter sitting dusty in the cabinet i could break out to do the peat moss thing... Would it be easier to track down some almond leaves maybe? Could one do it using only driftwood?
What about water changes? How does one go about Water changes? Would I need to make the new water match the tank parameters before using it or could I get away with small WC's of aged tap? Ahhhhh! So many questions! Lol somebody help me out here.... ?:confused:

[Eddie]

I've tried IAL, peat and about every brand of blackwater additives. The most economical and effective way to give your water that nice deep tea color is to use Kent Blackwater Expert. This stuff is the BOMB, because it only takes a small amount to give you the effect you are looking for. All other brands require way too much to darken the water and with all the water changes, its like pouring dollars down the drain. ;)

[Melissa]

Aha! Sounds simple enough. So is that something you would slowly introduce into the tank for a gradual change? Or could I just start changing their water using it 'full-strength' if you will?

Btw.... I added a large piece of driftwood about 30 minutes ago and they won't go near it they're scared! Sheesh.... They'll get over it right? Lol

[Eddie]

Just start adding it. I generally fill my tanks and then add it or even while its filling. No worries about the driftwood, they'll get used to it. ;)

[Melissa]

Lol I thought so. Thanks Super Eddie (you're not superman... You're super Eddie! Much better than being superman lol! ) ok that's enough coffee for me...

[Eddie]

Lol I thought so. Thanks Super Eddie (you're not superman... You're super Eddie! Much better than being superman lol! ) ok that's enough coffee for me...


LMAO, your funny. ;)

[Melissa]

Does a Simply Sponsor sell the stuff?

[William Palumbo]

I think Kensfish sells the extract. First off, if your ph and hardness is high...peat or IAL aint gonna do it. You will need RO. I would leave the ph alone! I do keep wilds in tapwater, but I do like to put tannins in the water. I boil peat or IAL to get an "extract" out of it, and add it to the tank. I do this as well with my breeding(RO) water. If you start playing with the ph, and you can't keep it STABLE, you're going to have problems. The extracts in the tapwater does not affect ph...Bill

[Altum Nut]

I too would agree with the others using Kent Black Water Extract as a more stable option.
I have had success with using European Black Alder Cones that seem to grow along our Canadian shorelines. However, too many will alter low ph values that do not appear to stay stable. Usage is 1-2 per 10g. I pick them in early Dec when they are a dark brown color.
I merely use them with r/o mix for pleco breeding where below ph 5 is required. I've use a mixture of Alder Cones and Almond Leaves with r/o when bringing in wild Altums Angels dime size with success with a 4.1 ph reading. Then over a 2 month period...slowly acclimatize to tap water.

...Ralph

[roclement]

SERA Morena also does it and works great, if you can find it!

Rodrigo

[Jhhnn]

20 years ago, when it was considered good practice, I used peat to condition my discus water in an aging barrel. I used "pure canadian peat", the fine dark brown crumbly stuff, from a local hardware store in a largish home made box filter made from a cottage cheese container. I kept wet peat in a larger sealed bucket, changed it every time I used the water. It definitely reduced both the PH and hardness of local Denver tap water while adding tannins. Some experimentation should arrive at the right recipe for whatever the local water conditions might be in terms of amount of peat and steeping time. Iirc, a couple of cups of peat in the filter left for a couple of days would lower the PH of the water in a 37gal trash bucket by a full point at 85F. Hardness went down, too, although I don't recall the numbers. It's important to turn off the box filter if normal water changing is delayed, as peat would drive the PH of my local water quite low with extended exposure time.

Peat was widely used by discus pioneers, particularly in Germany. Somewhere in one of my old discus books from the time there's a picture of a "torf bomb" a large barrel filled with peat used to condition water in a single pass...