Added Wood Now Water Is Yellow

[dsiegel13]

Decided it was finally time to get the tank 100% natural, so pulled all the remaining plastic and fake plants/decorations, went to the local lfs and bought some bogwood. Tied a couple of my anubias to the wood and submerged into the tank. Thought that bogwood was supposed to sink instantly, but had to bury parts of the wood in the gravel to keep it under... anyway.

Over the past couple of days, the water color has gone from crystal clear to yellowish. Is this normal? Doesn't seem to bug the fish or the plants, just noticed that the water is yellowish/brown and freaked me out a bit. Will this clear up with a couple water changes or is it a permanent effect of the wood in the tank?

Thanks for the advice/answers.

 

[StandbySetting]

Totally normal, it's the tannins in the wood, they will leach over time, you can do water changes to remove them and the more frequently you do the water changes the quicker the wood will stop leaching but it could be a few months before this happens. The tannins reduce pH ever so slightly and are good for fish.

I think they look awesome.

 

[dsiegel13]

Totally normal, it's the tannins in the wood, they will leach over time, you can do water changes to remove them and the more frequently you do the water changes the quicker the wood will stop leaching but it could be a few months before this happens. The tannins reduce pH ever so slightly and are good for fish.

I think they look awesome.

After some time I actually dig the tea coloration of the water, gives a more creek-bed look to the tank. My pH is low already so maybe I should kick it up a bit to level things out.

Thanks for letting me know.

 

[micko]

Totally normal, it's the tannins in the wood, they will leach over time, you can do water changes to remove them and the more frequently you do the water changes the quicker the wood will stop leaching but it could be a few months before this happens. The tannins reduce pH ever so slightly and are good for fish.

I think they look awesome.

+1

 

[lljdma06]

+2

 

[dsiegel13]

Thanks all for the help, going to let the wood do its natural thing for the coming future, right now it looks kinda cool.

Question: will the tea stain in the water affect the way that my lights are reaching my plants? before the stain the water color from the lighting had a bluish tint (I have a white bulb and blue blue in there). Should I switch to two white bulbs to up the chances of the light doing the most for my plants?

 

[RadaR]

Thanks all for the help, going to let the wood do its natural thing for the coming future, right now it looks kinda cool.

Question: will the tea stain in the water affect the way that my lights are reaching my plants?

No, negligable. In an open system somewhere like an estuary, then yes suspended particles would scatter and attenuate light. But in a home aquarium, you needn't worry.

before the stain the water color from the lighting had a bluish tint (I have a white bulb and blue blue in there). Should I switch to two white bulbs to up the chances of the light doing the most for my plants?

No it wont matter. Technically blue wavelengths(nm) penertrate deeper than other wavelengths. You wouldn't notice in an aquarium though.

 

[dsiegel13]

Thank you RadaR! That saves me time, worry, and cash, as I was about to order another white bulb just in case.

 

[dsiegel13]

HELP!

I think the t-stain is at a unhealthy level. As you can see in the pics below, the t-stain from the drift wood that I placed in the tank last week is getting darker, tea colored and dark.

Is this normal? should I be worried? should I change the water quickly? will the light reach the plants? will this effect my fish?

Please let me know that I shouldn't be freaking out, or should I

Tea stained water, I placed a white pizza box behind the tank to provide better contrast.
No tank light and only the flash of the camera to provide light.

 

[lljdma06]

A water change should reduce the coloring.

 

[StandbySetting]

It's fine, don't worry, any affect it has on light is negligible.

 

[RadaR]

Looks awesome. Very amazon black water