How to make Blackwater extract [was Re: New subscriber to the apisto@aquaria.net mailing list.]

[mengerin@cs.utexas.edu]

>  Thanks for the note on Texas water, now I regret passing up those A. 
>  borelli for $6.  

Absolutely, however in Austin, the $6 borelli is sort of a common occurance.
It is kind of nice living near Amazonia here in Austin.  They've got access
to or carry virtually every cichlid on the planet.

>  On the peat filtered water (with the A nijsseni), I had problems
>  dropping the pH low enough with the filtration I used.  How did you
>  filter yours, and how low did the pH go?  I resorted to chemical means
>  but would prefer to use peat.

I use a trick that was acredited to a guy named Oleg on the killifish
mailing list.  The suggestion is to take a large bucket & put in an
undergravel plate & uplift tube.  Add a bunch of water & boiled peat.
using an air pump, keep the mixture in constant motion, and you have very
cheap "blackwater extract".  If you want to really get the tank dark, use
a sponge filter & just dump in a lot of boiled peat.  That takes the tanks
to a blackwater environment in 2 days.  The common pH range that I'd take
it to was 6.4-6.8 depending on the particular water change & how much
blackwater I used.

				Cheers,
				Matthew