thE TINT

the art and science of botanical method aquarium keeping.

  • “The operating system”

    It’s time to move beyond just the pretty look of the botanical-method aquarium, and venture into a deeper stage of understanding how our aquariums function as miniature ecosystems. Part of the whole “game” of the botanical method aquarium is understanding how, why and what happens to terrestrial materials when they’re placed in water. Nature has…

  • “ENVIRONMENTAL INTIMACY” AND THE CASE FOR KILLIFISHES

    Killifishes are beyond fascinating for me. Not only is their life cycle amazing, the fact that they are so closely connected to their environments perhaps more than almost any fishes we’ve worked with in the hobby is an amazing ‘unlock” for so many things we want to do as hobbyists. And the annual varieties, in particular,…

  • BOTANICAL METHOD “MENTAL SHIFTS” WE HAVE TO MAKE: ACCEPTING “THE BIG THREE”, and the “gospel” according to scott..

    Every once in a while, I need to get a bit preachy to get my points across. It almost always ruffles a few feathers…But my intentions are good, I promise. Sometimes I need to give the hobby a bit of “tough love.” The aquarium hobby tends to latch on to all kinds of ideas, practices,…

  • a bit more on water Clarity and color…I call it “flavor.”

    One of the interesting “side effects” of writing a blog called “The Tint”- or having owned a company called “Tannin Aquatics” is that you give everyone the impression that all you specialize in is creating aquariums with lots of leaves and stuff and golden-brown, tinted water. Makes sense, for sure. And yeah, like to think…

  • water colors?

    One of the most common misconceptions about botanical-method aquariums is that they must absolutely be filled with deeply tinted water and replete with fungal-and-biofilm-encrusted decomposing leaves, twigs and seed pods. Remember, this is a methodology, not a “style of aquascaping”, and the reality is that you can have an aquarium which fully embraces the ecological aspects…

  • common. in an uncommon way?

    Periodically, I receive “I would love to hear your thoughts about this…” kind of emails from our readers/listeners, and almost all of them are really good! Sometimes, they touch on some ideas which really get me riled up. (maybe that’s the intent, lol?) Here’s one that has come up a few times lately: There is some perception…

  • back to nature. literally.

    Welcome back to “The Tint.” An exploration of my lifetime obsession with creating and managing botanical method aquariums. An exploration of unique aquarium approaches which place ecology first, where the aesthetics are a “byproduct” of the methodology that we embrace. The Tint is my “stream of consciousness” look into ideas, techniques, and musings about how…

  • It’s raining life in the “urban igapo”

    I’ve always been fascinated by environments which transform from dry, terrestrial ones to lush aquatic ones during the course of the year. I remember as a kid visiting a little depression in a field near my home , which, every spring, with the rains would turn into a little pond, complete with frogs, Fairy Shrimp,…

  • THE “FUNGAL FILTER”-FREE FOR THE TAKING…

    You saw the title. What exactly am I talking about here?  Today, I want to talk a bit about our gooey friends, the fungi- for just a few minutes. Despite their off-putting appearance to some, they may be among the most beautiful, elegant, and useful organisms we encounter in the aquatic world. Why do I…

  • TRANSIENCE, EMBRACING THE EPHEMERAL…AND AN APPRECIATION FOR “WABI-SABI.”

    I recently had one of those hardcore fish discussions with an old friend who is as much a philosopher as he is an aquarist..Real “Obi-Wan Kenobi”, “Aquascaping Jedi”-type. He had this amazing viewpoint on all things aquarium. It was a fun talk. We all know a hobbyist or two like him, huh? Inspiring, interesting…intelligent. And…