#tannin tank

[nientedal]

Fuckfins has gone to Valhalla. May she battle and feast at the sides of extremely confused Norsemen until the ending of the world 🐠

[semprvivum]

another planted betta tank update! added more mopani wood and rearranged things :)

[headlessandhellbent]

Been a hot minute since we did a Fergus update-

So I ran out of IAL and ordered some of the same exact ones I had.

I did not get what I was expecting.

This is one single leaf of what arrived:

And now I get great views like this:

It's little fish against big leaf over here

And Fergus is enjoying every single damn moment of it

[gasterofficial]

apparently when i get high i order aquarium plants and stare longingly at plecos i cant afford for several hours

[thebiotope]

YES

[savageboar]

also Now the exotics shop has sparkling gourami when i already have dwarfs...ph well

[whitefangz]

Btw. this is miso, she’s a female betta imbellis 👍 she is really stupid

[thenarrativefoil]

THE TANK IS CLEAN(er)

[teaboot]

How is loulou? Given the last update I’m hoping he’s ok :(

Loulou is doing great!!

I was worried about his tail but there's a specialist in town who took a look and said it just looks like normal wear and tear- apparently it happens with long tail varieties, and I'm not surprised since he's a double tail and can't really pull them in like a veiltail might. They're kinds just... always flared-looking? But yeah, made extra sure there are no sharps or abrasives in his tank so it's likely just... regular friction, I suppose? Idk.

Anyhow, his tank was getting a bit high on the acidity, so I tried a few different ph testers and they all say it's good now. Water changes and some lil tank cones for tannins. He's just as excitable and goofy as ever!

(And apparently what I thought might be stress stripes was not that.)

So. Still kinda nervous about it all but he... seems to be fine? Keeping an eye out regardless.

But anyway here's a picture!!!

He's EVEN MORE BLUE!!!

Giving his best anime eyes 💖

[boywizard]

worst image in the world. but they have eggs on that piece of valliseneria im going to explode theyre being such good parents and protecting them from the tetras

MY ANGELFISH LAID EGGS IM GOING INSANE

[nientedal]

[chipped-chimera]

Since you guys liked the finished planted tank so much, have the tetra update!

A little bit of glass surfing is still happening but honestly was more because I was bugging them with my phone camera than anything. Most of today they were all over the place exploring~ also weird thing in the tank is a Banksia Seed Pod, threw it in for some extra tannins to help with any transition stress (natural antibacterial).

[octuscle]

I need some help! I spent most of my life in the UK, but I'm living in the States. I miss it. And I may have keyed in a few changes to make me feel at home. But, I dunno, I feel different, mate. What do you fink is happen'?

Mate, you've made a few adjustments to get back to living life as a chav like you did in Newcastle. But "Young", "Stupid", "Lazy" and "Constantly Horny" admittedly leads straight to a cheap haircut, tracksuit and fake Louis Vuitton hip bag at the bus stop in the UK. But you're in Los Angeles… The clocks tick differently there. You won't be a scally. You become more of a muscle bro. No interest in soccer, just football. No beer drinking and no chain smoking. American jocks are so boring. I'm glad you contacted me.

You're standing in front of the mirror. Flawless white teeth, buzzcut, toned and tanned muscles. Ey, not everything is bad. But that has nothing to do with homesickness. And the constant "bruh" and "dude" also annoys you… One of your gym bruhs calls and asks what's up. You ask "Mate, what dee ya say to a pint in the pub?" Your bruh asks if everything is okay with you. Alcohol? And at this time of day? He wanted to go to the gym and then to the beach. "Nah, mate! i was goin' to break for lunch na n' then i havta get 'ack to work here." Back to work? You're in college. And it's Spring Break…. Fuck, of course not. You're a carpenter. Interning at an interior design company here in the US. Fuck, the quality here really sucks. You should have tried to get an internship in Scandinavia. Or even better in Germany. There you can already drink beer for breakfast. And not some light stuff like here…

You have to burp. You made yourself a great English breakfast this morning in your dorm. None of that high-protein low-carb crap. Eggs, bacon, beans. Whatever a real man needs in the morning. Shit, beans always make you fart…

Your basketball shorts become work pants. Your tank top becomes a t-shirt. Your cool Apple Watch becomes a cheap almost real gold swank watch. On the other wrist you wear a matching bracelet. Your cell phone vibrates. "Mate, us're meetin' for a booze-up at the bus stop na. Are ya comin'?" You reply that the bloody pigs should fuck off, you're in fucking America and you still have work to do. You take a selfie and send it to your mates.

"mate, hav ya bin under the tannin' 'ed?" "you look like a 'each propa lad!" "come 'ack soon, ya're nit gettin' enough weed!"

You just answer with "I miss ya fuckers". It's time to go home. A chav like you just doesn't fit in California.

Ya alway find propa lads @toughukladz

[kimarisgundam]

I'm kinda proud that this setup turned out well! It's my first time doing a backwater tank 😃!

It's been around 3.5 months (cycle, seasoning, and monitoring after adding my juvenile betta in) and I think everything is going great so far!

I think he's maturing well too cos his adult pattern is appearing/darkening 😃

(*coughs* I had issues at first cos I used the filter cartridge from my other betta tank to get the cycle going... not realising that there's activated carbon in it 😐

I kept adding almond leaves and wondering where my tannins were dissappearing to until I cut the cartridge open and was like "ooh..")

^ he's always begging for food 😅

He's a Betta macrostoma, a wild betta fish native to the region I live in (He's not wild caught, his parents were bred in captivity)

[endangered-aquarium-fish]

Samurai gourami (Sphaerichthys vaillanti)

Endangered

The samurai gourami is a small fish from the area of the Kapuas River in Borneo and its SO FUCKING COOL LOOK AT THEM I WANT ONE RAHHHH

They don’t actually live in the river, they’re way too cool for that-  

They live in a wonderfully bizarre habitat called a peat swamp, where pure rainwater pools over a meters-thick layer of decomposing leaves and wood fallen from the dense canopy above. The acids released as it all decays mean the pH of the water is so low (sometimes 3-4) that nothing can even decompose when it dies, and the tannic acids bond to any dissolved minerals and sink them into the soil. 

The water has the dark color and distinct scent of tea. It sits perfectly still, too dark for any plants to grow, so nearly every fish that makes its home there has to use a specialized organ called the labyrinth organ to get their oxygen from gulps of air. 

…btw, most adult fish will die within minutes in water like that - it’s nearly as acidic as pure vinegar. Samurai gouramis are literally so fucking metal… they live in the fucking Evil Death Water of Doom and theyre just. chilling. unbothered. thriving :3

The gouramis live in pairs, hidden in the tangles of submerged roots and branches and leaves. Their thin shape helps them mimic a dead leaf- and they play into that by acting like one too!! their slow, calm movement looks like they’re simply drifting peacefully through the water, even as they stalk their prey (mostly insects like mosquitoes). Also, they’re some of the biggest fish in the swamp- at a whopping 3 inches long. 

They usually form a social hierarchy where the biggest females get the best territory, food, and mates. And when they choose a mate, it gets really funky and weird :3

The males are less colorful than the females, but they have a pouch in their throat that they can extend as a display, kinda like an anole. The females lay from 10 to 40 eggs at a time before the males fertilize them and scoop them up with their mouth. It’s a lot like the toba betta, but it’s even more specialized - they keep the eggs in their throat pouch, even after they hatch 0.0 The babies spend a while growing up in there, just living in their father’s throat, and so he has to find a way to feed them…

He uses the tannic acids in the water. He absorbs them and mixes them with his own mucus, using their natural stickiness to form sort of a fishy tannin slime that he excretes into his throat like milk for the babies. They spend weeks nibbling at it until they get big enough that he can let them out to swim away. He doesn’t eat anything until they’re free. 

Overall 10/10 fish very funky does a masterful imitation of a leaf. but like if the leaf was fruity or something

They’re endangered by deforestation and pollution from illegal gold mining upstream. The efforts to protect them in the wild have failed, but not in aquariums :3

Luckily they don’t have to live in vinegar or acid rain or something. They’re okay in any soft water with a pH of 6.5 or less, which may even be how your tapwater is naturally. If not, you can gather fallen leaves, seed pods, and sticks from local trees and let those soak in your aquarium, and the tannins they release will give the fish what they need just like in the peat swamps. They really do need very soft water though, so if your water isn’t already naturally soft, this may not be the best fish for you. 

They do best in a shallow tank of at least 30 gallons, with very clean and warm water (75-82 F) and minimal flow. They don’t like bright light so add plenty of floating plants to cast shadows, and make sure the water has plenty of tannins to keep it that dark color. They can be very shy and reclusive sometimes so they really need a lot of cover to feel safe and comfortable enough to come out. It’s easy to give them that, just add lots of wood, dark caves, dead leaves, and plants to the tank. Most plants won’t do well in blackwater, but there are plenty that will - I like to use frogbit, cryptocorynes, water lilies, mosses, and some stem plants like rotala rotundifolia if you let them grow up to the surface. You can also use plants like pothos and peace lilies that like to grow with only their roots in the water - these are amazing at keeping the water clean and your gouramis will love the roots. There should be about an inch of air at the top for the fish to breathe from, and a lid to keep it humid enough so the babies’ labyrinth organs can develop properly. 

Samurai gouramis are wonderfully peaceful and harmless, so whatever you keep with them (except shrimp) is perfectly safe. The only thing you need to worry about is that the gouramis are slow and timid enough that a lot of other fish will eat all the food before they can get any- and if the other fish are aggressive at all the gouramis are done for. The best tankmates for samurai gouramis are small, slow, peaceful, and unintimidating, so I’d suggest a small school of pygmy cories or tiny rasboras like chili, kubotai, or axelrod rasboras. You could probably also keep them with similar peaceful gouramis like chocolate gouramis, licorice gouramis, or snakehead bettas. Just make sure you have plenty of other samurai gouramis (at least 6) since they need company almost as much as we do.

Breeding them is easy, just have a group and they’ll form pairs. The difference between males and females is really easy to see - the males are chocolatey brown like an old fallen leaf, and the females look like a psychedelic rainbow. They’ll all find their own spots in the tank when they decide to breed and eventually the males’ throats will be filled with eggs and they’ll become reclusive and stop eating for up to three weeks while they care for them. It’s best to move the adults into another tank temporarily for a few days after the babies are released or they could get eaten. The fry need to eat the microorganisms that grow around dead leaves, and they should be fed other tiny live foods as supplements like microworms and baby brine shrimp until they get big enough to eat what their parents eat. Even the adults are a bit picky and they prefer live foods but they can usually learn to eat protein rich prepared foods too.

Have fun with ur gouramis :3 

[savageboar]

luckily we have huge stainless steel pots for making large amounts of food for home canning that i can boil my driftwood in when it arrives