thE TINT

the art and science of botanical method aquarium keeping.

  • THE NURSERY YOU DIDN’T BUILD: RAISING FRY WITH THE BOTANICAL METHOD…

    I’ve been on this tangent thinking about how things in the hobby continuously evolve, so it was sort of obvious to me to think about how some of our common aquarium practices have  changed over time as new ideas and techniques creep in. With so much emphasis on keeping our fishes as healthy as possible…

  • BLACKWATER , SOILS, AND ROLLING STONES: HOW COME YOU (USUALLY) WON’T FIND ROCKS IN THE IGAPO?

    The beauty of the aquarium hobby is that we can find no shortage of inspiration from the natural world.  You don’t have to look all that hard to find it. And, if we look really hard, we can find combinations of various, seemingly incongruent components that we might not have ever considered using together before. And we can apply…

  • SEDIMENTED SUBSTRATES…OR, HOW TO MAKE REAL “BLACKWATER” WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (WELL, SORT OF)…

    There is something about the materials that we place on the bottom of our aquariums, collectively known as “substrates”- which has always appealed to me. I find them compelling and fascinating in both form and function.  I think that a good substrate can “make or break” an aquarium. Seriously. I don’t see substrates as just…

  • LESS IS MORE. AN “EVOLUTION” IN BOTANICAL METHOD AQUARIUM THINKING AND PRACTICE…

    How often, during your hobby “career”, have you been tempted to add one more fish, that “final” coral, or that “extra” piece of wood to your aquairum, in an attempt to “fill it out” more and make it look more “finished?” One of my favorite design quotes comes from the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe:…

  • THIS IS SOOO EASY, RIGHT?

    Today. I’m sort of taking a contrary stance to what you might typically see in aquarium blogs. Okay, what else is new, right? I need to give the hobby- well, people who are “content creators” in the hobby, a metaphorical whack upside the head…Here we go! Some- certainly not all- of you guys and gals…

  • FREE YOUR MIND AND THE DETRItUS WILL FOLLOW…

    There is one word that aquarium hobbyists definitely have come to loathe: Detritus. The very mention of the word can send most aquarists into a cold sweat! It’s one of those things we’ve been told from almost day one in the hobby to avoid at all costs. The definition of this stuff, as accepted in…

  • A PATH THROUGH THE FOREST- FOLLOWING A DIFFERENT ROUTE.

    Over the years, those of you who follow “The Tint” know that I’m always looking to unusual natural ecological niches for inspiration. Nature provides plenty of ideas that we can interpret in the aquarium. Some are super obscure. Others are found all over the world. Some simply carry a bit more mystique to them because…

  • FILTHY GOOD.

    I receive a lot of questions about the maintenance of botanical-method aquariums. And it makes a lot of sense, because the very nature of these aquariums is that they are stocked, chock-full of seed pods and leaves, all of which contribute to the bio load of the aquarium- all of which are in the process…

  • ANY WAY YOU WANT IT. HOW OPENING MY MIND TO THE IDEAS OF OTHERS ENHANCED MY HOBBY EXPErience!

    I remember, a couple of years ago, I was visiting the dentist for a routine checkup. There was a new and unusually chatty Dental Hygienist, and after the usual exchange of pleasantries, he started asking about my hobbies and such. And then he shared his hobby. He travelled around the world…on extended weekends. Yeah. What…

  • NATURAL “ARCHITECTURE”: LETTING YOUR BOTANICAL MATERIALS DO SOME OF THE WORK…

    One of the subtle shifts that occurs as an aquarist embraces the botanical method is learning to resist the urge to organize every aspect of the aquarium. Instead of viewing leaves, branches, seed pods, and other botanical materials as “decorations” to be arranged into a composition, we begin to see them as active participants in…