[jeffkrol]

So I was messing w/ my no white spectrum LED today and thought I'd see how close to blackwater I could get it.
I'm familiar with real blackwater living in the land of tannin stained lakes and my impression (looking surface down) was always it's just not the yellow.
Brown doesn't come real easy in a sense.

Anyways so I have this still shot and grabbed what I considered "normal" blackwater look.. i.e tannins and white light.
These are photos and real life doesn't always match them so I'm asking for opinions from those that run real blackwater tanks.
One specific question is how well in real life is red rendered?
Tannin stained water seems to go from pee yellow to wine red. Is there any preference?
I understand that those doing say a biotope may want to do a particular shade but in general is there a preferred look?
Emulation on the left... Really is just removal of blue and cyan though cyan is a bit optional in intensity.
lime, pc amber, and 660nm are left. Which is good from a power standpoint though I believe I may have globally dimmed it a bit for more contrast.
might just program it in to run for a bit.

 

[jeffkrol]

Grabbed a sequence of shots for other takes on it;

 

[jeffkrol]

Really??? No comments?

 

[bigbadjon]

I prefer the bottom pic. It seems if you want to do the tannin look then browner is better.

 

[jeffkrol]

I prefer the bottom pic. It seems if you want to do the tannin look then browner is better.

Thanks..

 

[minorhero]

So these are done only with lights and not with any additives to the water? That's pretty spiffy.

I think very few people have seen real life tannin water so preferences are likely derived from what they either see from pictures/video of other people's tank or what they see with their own eyes when people either use the commercial 'tannin' additives, or make various kinds of leaf tea.

Personally I don't like the tannin look all that much and boil the heck out of my wood when possible to avoid it ;P But to my eye the most natural look is a more yellow rather then red. Maybe that's a result of the local leaves I see in puddles.

 

[jeffkrol]

Yes purely done with lights.
Tank water is gin clear

I prefer the orig because I still retain a lot of color in the fish.
Thanks.

 

[Deanna]

I didn’t want to comment, since I never ran a blackwater tank. If you are looking for opinions on just the look, I don’t like any of them, but that’s only because I prefer a non-yellow view of things.

If you are trying to determine real conditions, and you live near a tannin-filled lake, does it make sense to put your PAR/PUR meter under the lake water to see what the curve is?

 

[sm1ke]

My only experience with tannins is when I kept a few alder cones in a container with hot water to draw the tannins out before placing them in my tank. After a few days of soaking in the container, the water appeared to have the same colour as the 2nd picture in your 2nd post, and it never got any darker than that. The 4th picture appears to be too red (at least IMO).

 

[greenguppy]

Grabbed a sequence of shots for other takes on it;
View attachment 1030017

I like the second from the top in this pic. Like deanna I have never had a black water setup but I would love one.

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[jeffkrol]

I like the second from the top in this pic. Like deanna I have never had a black water setup but I would love one.

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Well now you know you can fake it..