My latest Blackwater Journey

[wrs2]

Hello all! I posted a blackwater post back in 2021 / 2022, but I am ready to restart my blackwater tank obsession! Every time my elderly cats die I seem to distract myself in fish tanks, so here we go again!

I have 3 tanks ATM that will be black water that I am clueless as of what to do!



The 40 has lemon tetras, diptail pencilfish and a random Bolivian ram and random apisto cacatuoides ( I think red flash ) I got them as juveniles, but they were not a very healthy lot and all but one died. I think there is a random banjo catfish here too.
Its so basic, I just hate it. I need suggestions obviously on what I can do to make it better. Wood, rocks, planets? Different botanicals, etc.
I think the wood is a big issue, it's so thin. I had thought about putting it in my 29 gallon actually.

Then we have my 29 gallon.( Picture is messy, some wood came lose from it's base and floated up so it's all messy atm )
It was literally a plant and wood holding tank for like 7 months. Clearly I didn't clean the algae off the sides or back, but I never do that so...

It had like 2 loaches too, but they moved to a different tank.
I didn't take the wood out, but planted the left side a bit. It has now some Serpae tetras.
So I kind of want this to be like a biotope for them.
TBH I hate 29 gallons so I was thinking of just getting rid of it and getting a standard 30 gallon, but do I want to spend $160 on it??





Lastly!
My 6 gallon bookshelf.
It was supposed to hold an alien betta, but the Alien betta I got seems deformed and I think this tank would be too big for him.
So them my genius self got a black betta that I can't even see.
And then to make it worse, I gave it like some west African vibe with the lilies and random botanicals that aren't Asian.
And now it looks cloudy too.



So obviously I am a mess and these tanks are messes and I need to update them.
This will be my journal in my journey to improve these messes lol

 

[wrs2]

This is my 4th and final black water tank.
Glass needs to be cleaned ( chronic problem lol ) but it’s the only one I actually like.




It was supposed to be Asian, but it’s not…

 

[wrs2]

Has anyone ever used hibiscus wood in their aquariums?

 

[TClare]

Hello, good to see you back! If you are interested in a biotope for serpae tetras this article should be helpful:
https://www.tfhmagazine.com/articles/freshwater/swimming-with-serpae-tetras-in-brazil
Perhaps consider putting the Bolivian ram with them, not sure if they do occur together naturally, but both do occur in Bolivia. I’ll give some thought to the other tanks…

 

[wrs2]

Thank you! I will take a look at that article
I see it says they do better in cooler water which is good, and bloodfin tetras are common with them. I have 6 in a different tank I can add here.

Too bad I lost my mangrove talawa root. It would've been great for this. I had it in my parents pond to waterlog and then when I went to get it after the season was over it was gone. My father probably thought it was just a branch and got rid of it. :/

 

[wrs2]

My messy fish room ( technically a wall in my basement )





I think it’s too much and I need to condense.
Maybe get rid of the 10s… I have a 20 tall I could use but it’s rimmed…
Or get a 30 standard




The Alien betta in the 6 gallon bookshelf

 

[wrs2]

I got this today for the 40 gallon!

 

[wrs2]

Well it’s in!

It’s bigger than I thought, barely fit. Not even how I wanted it, but it was floating so I had to maneuver it like this and cover it with rocks. I will check back in 2 weeks and see how it’s going

 

[TClare]

It definitely has potential, if you are only considering small fish in there.

 

[wrs2]

Yeah it’s just going to be lemon tetras and pencil fish. I need to rotate it once it waterlogs and then cut a few branches off.

 

[wrs2]

I couldn’t wait 2 week, I redid the wood in the 40 breeder so it was how I wanted.



Unsure how I feel about it now that it’s in the tank ‍♂️
But I have no choice to use it here.
The whole tanks needs a big WC. It looks way too dark imo.

 

[TClare]

Not really too dark for blackwater though.

 

[Fishfur]

You were asking earlier if anyone used hibiscus wood?

Can’t say I have. Never seen any lying around to try - the tropical ones can’t survive winter here and the hardier ones die back in winter and never have much wood that might be used.

The only species that gets to any great size is Rose of Sharon - M.syriacus, but they’re always on somebody’s lawn so not exactly easy to come by to try out .

But it is technically a hardwood so it should be ok. The mallows are certainly not toxic in any way.

But very thin branches might not last too long.

I had a nicely shaped maple twig about a half inch diameter that sort of disappeared fairly quickly in a tank.

That surprised me because most maple is quite dense, tough wood. Unfortunately I have no idea what species of maple it was.

 

[wrs2]

Well... I absolutely HATE that piece of wood. It's too big, it's literally all I can have in the tank and makes the tank so crowded looking.

What an utter waste of money. I will have to see if I can see it on FB marketplace because I can not use it.

 

[Fishfur]

Well... I absolutely HATE that piece of wood. It's too big, it's literally all I can have in the tank and makes the tank so crowded looking.

What an utter waste of money. I will have to see if I can see it on FB marketplace because I can not use it.

Have you considered doing some judicious pruning on that piece?
I have often modified wood to suit by removing excess material - entire branches in some cases or the one that’s just in the way no matter what orientation the piece is placed in and one I split about in half - two for one that time! A decent set of pruners should do the work - might need a saw for really thick stuff though once it is waterlogged it’s much easier to cut.
You might end up with a nice piece to use and some offcuts you can sell.

 

[wrs2]

Maybe, but maybe I will try the market place 1st.
I took it out so it's not even in the tank, my lights couldn't even stay on the tank, the branches kept pushing them up.
Cut my losses and move on lol

Speaking of loses. I got 6 lampchop rasbora for the bookshelf tank. They stay small, it's a wide footprint. I had 6 yesterday, then this morning 5, the after lunch 4, now just 3. But I don't see any bodies. IDK what is going on. The water to too low for them to jump ( at least I think ) and nothing is able to eat them at this size. I do not get it. I haven't lost any fish in so long and then this...

 

[Fishfur]

Maybe, but maybe I will try the market place 1st.
I took it out so it's not even in the tank, my lights couldn't even stay on the tank, the branches kept pushing them up.
Cut my losses and move on lol

Speaking of loses. I got 6 lampchop rasbora for the bookshelf tank. They stay small, it's a wide footprint. I had 6 yesterday, then this morning 5, the after lunch 4, now just 3. But I don't see any bodies. IDK what is going on. The water to too low for them to jump ( at least I think ) and nothing is able to eat them at this size. I do not get it. I haven't lost any fish in so long and then this...

How much space is there above the water to the tank rim? It never ceases to amaze me how far some fish can jump.

 

[wrs2]

1.5 inches.
But these guys are so tiny! I can't imagine they would jump that high being less than 1 inch themselves!
Ofc I don't have a lid on the tank. There is wood sticking out.

A failure already
At least the 29 gallon and serpae tetras are doing well. I just need to actually work on that work and scape + prep it to be a botanical blackwater scape.

 

[fishywoo]

Well... I absolutely HATE that piece of wood. It's too big, it's literally all I can have in the tank and makes the tank so crowded looking.

What an utter waste of money. I will have to see if I can see it on FB marketplace because I can not use it.

What if you just cut it in half? Or even a third? Then lay the half down so it looks like it's coming up out of the bottom of the tank and sell the other piece.

 

[wrs2]

Well the rasbora were down to 2.
Still no bodies, not in the tank or around it. Clueless what happened to them.

The store said they would take the wood back, so I will return it and look for something else. I didn't want to cut it, I really wasn't feeling it after all.

 

[TClare]

Still no bodies, not in the tank or around it.

Any snails in the tank?

 

[wrs2]

Any snails in the tank?

Nope! So it’s very odd.

But then I saw a fish from my blackwater cube was in my 2.5 gallon shrimp tank so idk maybe they’re all jumping as I’m the idiot for not having lids.

I will have to readjust the wood and see if I can get a lid for all these tanks now.

I kinda hate them all atm anyways

 

[TClare]

Must be jumping I suppose...

 

[wrs2]

All the tanks have wood coming out of the tank. So I guess I will redo them all ‍♂️

But now I have no wood for the 40. I have wood, but none of it’s the right wood.

 

[TClare]

Do you have anywhere you can collect wood from, as opposed to buying it? I get all mine from my local river, I have more than I can use!

 

[wrs2]

There’s a small stream in the woods but I am trying to avoid the woods after contraction one too many tick born illnesses Though I know my mom has some dead hibiscus plants that have been left out in her back woods over the winter. Maybe if I get those and clean them up? I think they’re still in the pots and dirt…

 

[wrs2]

Anyone know what kind of apisto this is?
The LFS sold them as one type, but they don’t look like anything I can find on line.

I have another female that is very deep orange.
Thinking maybe I can do my 40 based on these.

 

[TClare]

Maybe Macmasteri gold? (A domestic variety).

 

[wrs2]

That is what I was thinking. They said they were Apistogramma hongsloi, but I didn’t believe it. They were breed by a customer.

 

[tinylostwine]

More likely a domestic apistogramma agassizii gold; 100% not honglosi.

 

[wrs2]

More likely a domestic apistogramma agassizii gold; 100% not honglosi.

I wondered about that because they have the color + purplish gills, but the tails were different. Which is why I thought Macmasteri, though they don't have the red markings.

 

[TClare]

Yes, looking more closely the shape and tail do look more like agassizii I think…

 

[wrs2]

Finally redid the wood!

The 40 looks much better! I had these pieces of wood already so I didn’t have to spend money on new branches!

The 29 looks good imo too! Still need to move them bloodfin tetras down here as well then think of the main cichlid.

 

[BeachCruiser]

Love the South/Central American cichlids! Tons of personality & color.

 

[tinylostwine]

Love the South/Central American cichlids! Tons of personality & color.

You have to be careful here - i own somewhere between 20 and 40 species of sa cichilds and there is a huge range in looks and personality. Some certainly have interesting decoration others more drab. Some are very aloof; others very shy; others one track mind (feed me feed me) and some like to study you as much as you study them....

 

[BeachCruiser]

Absolutely! Huge difference between an Apisto & a "Red Devil", etc.

 

[wrs2]

I found my dream cichlid for the larger blackwater tank... but he ate my pencil fish!
I thought they were too big for him, but alas no. There was one left and I thought huh? Maybe I need to remove it from the tank, but it was too late when I finally got around to it!

UGH

Now IDK what to add with the lemon tetras.

And another UGH

The 14 gallon cube with the green neons, all the green neons have ICH.
And it's a lot of ich, not even a small case.
beyond annoying!

 

[wrs2]

Now they're basically all dead.
I think it's Epistylis at this point. This one LFS must be having an outbreak because I keep getting fish from there that end up getting it. I should start adding Kanaplex into my QT meds, but usually I had using meds unless needed. Or better yet, don't buy fish from this place. I haven't been having much luck with them lately + I don't have money to waste on fish that just die.