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I do not have scientifically sound proof but I believe there is a good correlation with the tint of the water from wood, leaves or peat that is a close indicator of the less well known phytochemicals black water fish like or benefit from. This whole fish keeping hobby is as much an art as it is a science.

apistomaster wrote:I do not have scientifically sound proof but I believe there is a good correlation with the tint of the water from wood, leaves or peat that is a close indicator of the less well known phytochemicals black water fish like or benefit from. This whole fish keeping hobby is as much an art as it is a science.

Indeed. A lot of that comes from someone doing one thing, and then claiming that as if it's the ONLY way to do something. That person/group hasn't tried anything else. I think Jon has posted about breeding Hypancistrus in pretty hard/alkaline water, which is quite different from what most people recommend.

Of course, if you only have one group of fish, it's hard to make comparative research where only one variable is changed - it's no good checking if you can breed the same group of fish under different conditions...

I think breeders program here on Planet Catfish will definitely help on that - because we can see the range and variation in breeding conditions for a given species.

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Mats

I believe Larry's most recent statement above should be expanded into an essay and enshrined in the annals of planetcatfish. Very well written apistomaster.

In my opinion, not only does leaf litter lend tannins, but also provides behavioral enhancements (foraging opportunities) and sense of security. my 2 cents.

Wooops, to be more specific, I was referring to apistomasters statement concerning tannins and lignans. Just want to clarify.

Thanks for clarifying, I was sort of wondering.

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Mats

I'm pleased some of you found my comments relevant. I wasn't trying to be profound. Just wanted to share my impressions derived from quite a few years of experience.
My involvement with keeping and breeding of wild Discus and my association with the web site http://www.finarama, where the difficulties of keeping Altum Angelfish is much discussed, has exposed me to many discussions about the best ways to incorporate phytohemicals to their water comes up frequently. Some people have even experimented with using teas!
Heckel Discus and Altum Angelfish are only found in waters with virtually no hardness and within a pH range of 3.5 and 4.0. Many people have failed to keep their aquariums water chemistry any where close to natural conditions and experience failures regularly.

Hello again
Glad to see this thread has fostered some interesting conversation. I have some more questions regarding wood... I have continued collecting recently, and have come across alot of beech, totally dead and unrotted (still very hard), but with fungal spalting inside the wood, see pictures:




It is my understanding that spalted wood is potentially harmful to humans, sawdust from it is meant to pose a risk when inhaled according to google. Would this also pose a risk in the aquarium? Would baking mitigate the risk? From what I have read, the concerns arise from germination of the fungi inside the body, so I presume baking/boiling would prevent this, unless some element of actual mould itself it toxic either dead or alive.

Any help/experience with such matters?

Conrad.

I think the "danger" is mostly that people are allergic to the spores.

I have some spalted wood in one of my tanks.

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Mats

Those who do not know what spalting is - as I did - it turns out to be a kind of moten wood, but it is spalted in case the color has changed

We still learn

There is some further reading, some of it "scary" in this thread:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascomycota

However, some of the "scary" stuff, I'm 100% sure are NOT the fungi that attack wood.

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Mats