Keeping a Good Thing Going: The Art and Science of Botanical Method Aquarium Maintenance

Today, let’s touch on a topic that we welcome hit on here in “The Tint.” Let’s talk about lighting your botanical method aquarium- specifically for growing aquatic plants. This is the mere “opening salvo” in what I hope to make a more in depth look at this topic- one which many of you ask about! Tinted water and aquatic plants seem counterintuitive, but there’s a lot to the topic. Let’s get into it!

If there is one fundamental that I wish I could teach to every aquarist, it’s patience.Botanical method aquariums run on the stuff…Patience is a core principle of what we do, and it’s an essential skill for every hobbyist to have. We need to eschew “hacks” and “shortcuts in favor of a longer game. We need to look at the “big picture” and see the many benefits of being patient….

We postulate and theorize a lot about what botanicals do for aquariums. We are beginning to understand some of their implications and impacts in our aquariums. However, we won’t talk about lot about their impact on wild aquatic habitats…Let’s have that talk- and think about the implications for our aquariums, too…including a bit more talk on what we call “blackwater.”

If we observe what our fishes feed on in the wild, we might be pleasantly surprised to find out that we can (and in some instances, already do) provide these same foods in a botanical method aquarium. Let’s take a fresh look at the foods we can produce in our tanks, and the potential benefits they can provide for our fishes!

Our aquariums tell us a lot of things. They literally “speak” to us. By observing, testing, and analyzing the feedback we receive from our tanks, we can set ourselves up for long term success.And often, it’s not as simple as just looking at numbers on a test kit. We need to look at things in context- to see what’s behind the numbers. We sometimes need to affect changes.. and other times, let the aquarium tell us what it wants to be. Feedback.

Yeah, it’s time for my semi annual ass kicking of the contest aquascaping world. Another of my irrational yet passionate rants asking us to do better! Guaranteed to offend a lot of people!😵‍💫

What is this whole botanical method aquarium thing about? Well, my philosophy has evolved a lot over the years. I think a lot of what we are doing with our botanical method aquariums is simply setting the stage for Nature to do something that She does best… create an ecosystem. This philosophy shapes everything in my aquarium work.. I hope that it impacts yours, too!

The history of aquarium keeping is a mix of amazing people, cool ideas, and of course, fascinating fishes. Many of the ideas we take for granted in the hobby have their roots in the 1950s and 60s- arguably the hobby’s “Golden Age.” However, there are all sorts of new ideas percolating in-.. today, a quick romp through hobby history and some personal relief tons and observations that confirm, in my mind at least- that we’re in another “Golden Age” of the aquarium hobby.

After a lifetime in the hobby- I’d venture to say that there are no really “difficult” fish. Here’s why: it’s not that a fish is inherited “difficult”- it simply means that we as hobbysits, if we want to be successful with a species- need to meet its needs. A fish doesn’t arrive in our aquarium with a concept of being “easy” or “difficult.” It arrives with a set of biological requirements.

Embracing the botanical method aquarium means adopting a “low intervention, high control “ philosophy. It requires thoughtful maintenance- perhaps a lot less than you’d expect. Why? Becuase we rely on the population of microorganisms and other life forms to provide the “filtration” for the system, and maintenance involves letting these processes play out instead of interfering with them? Curious? Give a listen!