thE TINT

the art and science of botanical method aquarium keeping.

  • TOUGH LOVE . COOL FISH.

    There are certain fishes in the aquarium world that will simply grab ahold of your attention and not let go. For me, it’s been characins and killifish. Yeah, killifish! The seemingly forgotten, yet utterly engrossing group with amazing colors, diverse spawning habits, and adaptability should make them some of the most popular fishes in the…

  • STICKING TO THE PLAN…FOR A WHILE, ANYWAYS.

    So, let’s say that you have this idea for an aquarium. You kind of visualize it in your head…you’ve assembled the materials, got it sort of together. You add water. Then, you walk in the room one day, look at it and– you just …HATE it. Like, you’re done with it.  Like, no re-hab on this design.…

  • WITH THANKS, MR. AMANO.

    One of the most important things that I do here in The Tint blog is to encourage you, as my fellow hobbyists, to feel free to experiment, scheme, and just try new stuff with your aquariums. To question old “rules”, practices, methodologies, and ideas. To push the boundaries of aesthetics and function with aquariums.  I talk…

  • MEAL PLAN.

    One of the things that I enjoy most about the botanical method aquarium is that it can function much like the wild habitats it’s intended to represent. And part of that function involves eco diversity and the production of life forms which serve as food for our fishes. The ability for fishes to at least…

  • HOW GREEN IS YOUR IGAPO?

    Land and water… If there’s one foundational concept to the botanical method “philosophy”,  it’s that land and water are inexorably linked together. And, I think that when we contemplate the dynamic of how water and the aquatic environment interact, it makes us look at aquatic habitats- and our aquariums-a bit differently. Seasonally-inundated forest floors and…

  • GOING, GOING…STILL GOING!

    There is something fascinating and enticing to me about the idea of keeping an aquarium system “going” for very long periods of time, occasionally changing things up; yet leaving the “operating system” largely intact, while replacing the “soft” components over time. Huh? The “operating system?” Example? Okay, let’s say that you’re kind of “over “your…

  • ADAPTING…

    Anyone who’s kept tropical fishes for any appreciable length of time does stuff that, while maybe not intentional, doesn’t exactly fit the commonly accepted “best practices” of aquarium keeping. Stuff that perhaps doesn’t provide the fishes under your care with stable, comfortable environmental conditions.  Maybe you slacked off on water exchanges for a protracted period…

  • THE MOLLY MYSTIQUE.

    Ever get an idea in your head that you just can’t let go of? Well, that’s me, when it comes to brackish aquariums. As you know, I’ve been playing with our interpretation of the brackish, botanical-method aquarium for years now, and it’s still obsessing me. Something about this “semi-salty” habitat and the fishes which reside…

  • A REMARKABLE PARALELL?

    Being a lover of aquarium technique, culture, and trends, it’s hard to imagine me NOT trying almost every technique that’s out there to keep aquariums. Over a lifetime in the hobby and industry, I’ll admit that I have played with a lot of ideas over the years. And without sounding really fucking old, I’ve been around long enough to…

  • WE SET THE STAGE…NATURE DOES THE REST!

    There is amazing beauty and life to be found in what seems to be disorder and decay in aquatic systems. Yeah, decay and breakdown- processes which we have talked about extensively on these pages. It’s a fantastic, dynamic process, one in which we set the stage to let Nature do Her job. Need an example…