The Puffer Forum

But tannins eat light. and without lab instruments, it is really difficult to tell how much. Clearing tinted water by massive carbon use can actually boost the light quickly enough to burn some plants. that is one reason I prefer repeated water partials to reduce the light loss to the tannins more slowly, allowing the plants to adapt to the increased light.

There are setups where tannins are appropriate, but those are not planted tanks - Amazonian brown water is all but plant-free - basically driftwood tangles only..