# How to deal with fish waste in blackwater biotope aquarium?



## baileyoswald202 (Dec 27, 2016)

lanina said:


> Hi everyone, first I want to say thank you, all the members in this forum, for helpful information about aquarium which helped me much in the last few months
> This is my first post and English is not my native language so if I make any mistake please help me to correct
> I have just made a biotope aquarium with blackwater environment for fishes from Amazon like neon tetra, with low light to create the darkness
> 
> ...


I don't see why a filter and regular water changes wouldn't be enough. If it is gravel big enough for waste to fall into, make sure to siphon waste out from inside the crevices by pushing your siphon [If you have one] a little ways into the gravel. 

Not sure about how to keep tannins in the water. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk


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## lanina (Mar 27, 2017)

baileyoswald202 said:


> I don't see why a filter and regular water changes wouldn't be enough. If it is gravel big enough for waste to fall into, make sure to siphon waste out from inside the crevices by pushing your siphon [If you have one] a little ways into the gravel.
> 
> Not sure about how to keep tannins in the water.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk


Thank you so much. So I will siphon most of waste out regularly. But how about the remaining waste left? Is there any solution or I have to use a few plants to reduce the toxic in water?

About the tannin I think I will prepare a tap water bucket left outdoor with some leaves in it to replace old water


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## tamsin (Jan 12, 2011)

Yes, I agree, the filter, plus syphoning out any solid waste and doing water changes will keep the water in good condition. It looks like you are using a hang on the side filter? If so, and you wanted to, you could grow some plants out of the water in the top of that.


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## lanina (Mar 27, 2017)

tamsin said:


> Yes, I agree, the filter, plus syphoning out any solid waste and doing water changes will keep the water in good condition. It looks like you are using a hang on the side filter? If so, and you wanted to, you could grow some plants out of the water in the top of that.


thank you! about the filter, I found an old external filter to replace the hanging filter in the pictures above so now I can have more filter material. May be I will grow some floating aquatic plants such as duckweed


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

An easy way to keep water full of tannin is with Indian almond leaves broken into pieces small enough to fit into a bio media bag, and stuff it in the filter so It's not unsightly in the tank. 

Or boil whole leaves in a pot of water, then strain that water into a bottle and pour as many ounces into the tank as needed to maintain tannin level.

Instead of Indian almpnd, you can use the leaf of your choice to maintain biotope integrity.


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## lanina (Mar 27, 2017)

kaldurak said:


> An easy way to keep water full of tannin is with Indian almond leaves broken into pieces small enough to fit into a bio media bag, and stuff it in the filter so It's not unsightly in the tank.
> 
> Or boil whole leaves in a pot of water, then strain that water into a bottle and pour as many ounces into the tank as needed to maintain tannin level.
> 
> Instead of Indian almpnd, you can use the leaf of your choice to maintain biotope integrity.


Great idea for the bottle of boiled leaf water! Never thought about this before! It's more convenient than opening the filter to change leaf bag regularly! Thank you!


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

When speaking of waste, do you know about the "nitrogen cycle" and the way waste is broken down by the bacteria? Very easy thing to miss but totally important thing to understand. 
Waste becomes ammonia, bacteria breaks ammonia down to nitrite, a second bacteria breaks nitrite to nitrate. Plants use part as food and we remove part with water changes and filter cleaning?


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

lanina said:


> kaldurak said:
> 
> 
> > An easy way to keep water full of tannin is with Indian almond leaves broken into pieces small enough to fit into a bio media bag, and stuff it in the filter so It's not unsightly in the tank.
> ...


You bet! I simmered leaves for about 30 minutes and used enough water to fill a Gatorade bottle with concentrated tannin water. A few ounces on water change day for my 5 gallon is all it takes for me to get my water where I like it.

Edit: break up the leaves before simmering/boiling, you'll get more tannins releasing faster than with while leaves. It's like a big pot of tea.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Can also boil pure sphagnum peat, and pour it through cheese cloth or old T shirt to catch anything but the tannin stained water.


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## lanina (Mar 27, 2017)

PlantedRich said:


> When speaking of waste, do you know about the "nitrogen cycle" and the way waste is broken down by the bacteria? Very easy thing to miss but totally important thing to understand.
> Waste becomes ammonia, bacteria breaks ammonia down to nitrite, a second bacteria breaks nitrite to nitrate. Plants use part as food and we remove part with water changes and filter cleaning?


yes, you are right! I have learnt a bit about the cycle through forum and Internet so in addition to regular water changing and filtration I will put some floating plants to make water healthier, thank you!



kaldurak said:


> You bet! I simmered leaves for about 30 minutes and used enough water to fill a Gatorade bottle with concentrated tannin water. A few ounces on water change day for my 5 gallon is all it takes for me to get my water where I like it.
> 
> Edit: break up the leaves before simmering/boiling, you'll get more tannins releasing faster than with while leaves. It's like a big pot of tea.





roadmaster said:


> Can also boil pure sphagnum peat, and pour it through cheese cloth or old T shirt to catch anything but the tannin stained water.


very useful tips, thank both of you so much :fish::fish::fish:


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