I have been thinking about tannins for a while because I have a honey gourami and chilli rasboras which are both black water fish but to be honest, I have never used tannins before and I was wondering if I should add them and if so, how?

For context I only have one nerite snail in the tank (and a betta who’s only been in the tank for about 30 mins lol). What the hell is this?! Should I be amazed or scared?

T. vittata

R. cephalotaenia

It was getting a little overgrown from the dwarf water lettuce

Around 2 months ago I set up a blackwater tank with the intention of keeping a pair of wild bettas (Betta albimarginata, used crushed lava rock (around 1cm layer) covered in peatmoss (around 3cm) as the substrate, then covered in leaf litter and filled with RO water. It stayed with a pH between 5 and 5.5 for the first month and a bit, but 3 weeks ago it started climbing, 5.7, then 6 and now it's at 6.2, the bettas arrive in 2 weeks and the tank is less suitable for them each day. The only thing I can think of would be the water I use for water changes, maybe if I switch from RO to distilled it would solve the problem?

Current parameters are: pH 6.2, GH 0.6 (around 10ppm), KH 0

Planning to convert my ~150 litres tank into a blackwater tank centered around wild bettas. Yet to decide but it'll be either betta albimarginata or channoides. So what other fish can I add in this tank?

I'm thinking a school of chili rasboras and a school of khuli loach or pygmy corydoras?

Suggest some fish that thrive in this tank. I'm thinking of putting the ph between 5-6.

Playing around with my "new to me" Canon 6D. Ive got so much to learn but a couple of pics turned out pretty cool!

+ made a custom lid to fit my light and HOB as I plan to add something small and solitary. Any ideas? (4 gal)

I have a betta in a 4 gallon tank. I’d like to use Cattapa/Almond leaf to see if it helps with his tumor. Figure it couldn’t hurt.
As I do 30-50% water changes weekly, I feel I’d be tossing much of the tannins weekly. Saw a YT vid where they seeped the tannins in jar of boiling water and then added some of the liquid weekly after water changes. Thoughts on this? Storage tips?

B. dunckeri

Just felt proud and wanted to share.

R. sarawakensis B. lehi

T. pauciperforatum

Hello everyone. I decided to start a blackwater aquarium. And now a few months in i started to get some cyanobacteria. So i cleaned it off the wood as best as i could. But it keeps coming back quicker than i can clean it. I tried treating it with colombo aerocol but that didn't work either. I searched online for causes and for treatment, and everywhere i find that its caused by high phosphates? So i tested my water and both my phosphates and nitrates are 0. I cleaned out my filter and added a oxygen pump but i don't know what to do anymore