thE TINT

the art and science of botanical method aquarium keeping.

  • BLACKWATER LIVEBEARERS? THE SEARCH CONTINUES…

    Do you ever get going on some tangent in the hobby, and just keep researching something that you either have a “hunch” about- or just become flat-out obsessed with? Well, I have just such a strange obsession going on. It has to do with livebearing fishes. Specifically, ones from blackwater habitats. Yeah, I have no…

  • MY SEARCH FOR BLACKWATER LIVEBEARERS…A TWISTED SAGA! (PART 1)

    Everyone likes a good story. Everyone has one of those fishes that, for whatever reason, capture their imagination, right? Well, I was doing just fine until one day, in conversation, my friend and I were talking about biofilms and the occasional algae tufts that you find on wood, pods and leaves in a botanical-influenced aquarium,…

  • DOES THAT “BLACKWATER AQUARIUM” ACTUALLY CONTAIN “BLACKWATER?”

    We interrupt our blissful ignorance for a cold whack upside the head… Do we have something wrong here?  Seemingly out of nowhere, the idea of creating a deep, dark, mysterious “blackwater aquarium” utilizing botanical materials has become a sort of “thing.” Now, in all fairness, hobbyists have been experimenting with blackwater aquariums for decades. Yet, I wonder if…

  • THE ART OF TRANSITIONING A BOTANICAL METHOD AQUARIUM: CASE STUDY.

    One of the best things about a botanical-method aquairum is that it is a dynamic, evolving, and, well -“flexible” environment to work with. By its very nature, the botanical-method aquarium changes- and can be changed– with relatively little effort on our part, while still embracing natural processes. Case in point: A little tank I created…

  • Meeting Nature HALFWAY…

    The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet Nature halfway.”-Michael Pollan It’s long been suggested that an aquarium is sort of like a garden, right? And, to a certain extent it is. Of course, we can also allow our tanks to evolve on a more-or-less “random” path than the word “garden” implies… Perhaps…

  • HERE’S MUD IN YOUR…TANK?

    One of the things I like about the approach that we are taking to natural-style aquariums is a willingness to look at things a bit differently; to occasionally push the boundaries back on what is considered “normal” practice and the “tried and true.” We’ve talked so often about the need to make “mental shifts” and…

  • EVOLVING THE “SPACE BETWEEN:” THE BOTANICAL METHOD BRACKISH WATER AQUARIUM

    A FEW YEARS AGO, I spent a lot of time playing with brackish water aquairums. My approach was, well- different than the typical pristine white sand and spotless version that we see portrayed from time to time. Rather, my goal was to model the brackish water ecosystem, replete with mangroves, decomposing leaf litter, and rich…

  • WHEN “PROBLEMS” ARE NOT REALLY PROBLEMS: EMBRACING NEW WAYS OF THINKING IN THE AQUARIUM HOBBY

    I’ve been asked a lot lately to comment my philosophical position on the hobby; a sort of rundown of what makes me tick, and how I arrived at my overriding approach and mindset. I’m flattered that anyone is actually interested in what I have to say, so… If you haven’t noticed, I tend to take…

  • BIG ROOTS. HUGE IMPLICATIONS!

    There is something incredibly compelling about the way terrestrial trees and shrubs interact with the aquatic environment. This is a surprisingly dynamic, highly inter-dependent relationship which has rarely been discussed in aquarium circles. Let’s have that talk! We have talked a lot about roots before…They are structures which are so important in so many ways…

  • ECOLOGY FIRST…

    I’ve been playing with leaves and seed pods and such in aquariums since I was a teenager. I began to develop my own philosophies, approaches, and practices over the years, and felt pretty confident in what I was doing. In 2015, I decided (against my better judgement) to build a business offering botanical materials and…