Brown Water

[pablothebetta]

I help look after a tank which seems to have a real issue with brown water. A while ago it got gutted and cleaned, before which it was an awful brown colour. Everything went back in and despite being a little cloudy (which I wasn't suprised at and thought would simply go with the filter running etc), everything seemed fine. However, a couple of weeks later and it's a filthy colour all over again.

I've been thinking of putting in some filter wool to help clear it, but I'd really like to know what's actually causing it. Anyone got any ideas? It's so bad that you can hardly see through the water.

Many Thanks

 

[Noahs ark6]

Aquarium woods release tanin into the water, have you added any wood into the tank in the past month(ish)?
If so, add some carbon to your filter

 

[elmo666]

Just a thought....do you have any bogwood in the tank as this leeches tanins into the water causing it to go the colour of weak tea. This would not explain any cloudiness though, this is more likely to be caused by a bacterial bloom.

 

[pablothebetta]

There is wood in there, but it's been in there for a few years I think. Strange thing is is that the water has only been like this since I disturbed the gravel once a few months ago. Before that I don't think it got like this. And yet, when I have done these things, I've done large water changes and, apart from the time when I disturbed the gravel, have left the water clearer than it was beforehand.

 

[Cazgar]

I was going to say the same thing, some wood does leech a lot of tannins, especially Mopani wood.
I don't mind the colour, but you could use carbon to try & clear it.
The cloudiness is another thins, as has been said, that could be a bacterial bloom.
Just do regular water changes, as big as you can manage

 

[pablothebetta]

I was going to say the same thing, some wood does leech a lot of tannins, especially Mopani wood.
I don't mind the colour, but you could use carbon to try & clear it.
The cloudiness is another thins, as has been said, that could be a bacterial bloom.
Just do regular water changes, as big as you can manage

A bacterial bloom was something that went through my mind, only the tank has been running for such a long while and wasn't like it before

I've seen pics of water with tannins in and it seems a more orangey brown but still relatively clear. This brown is definitely a grey-brown colour in comparison and very cloudy.

 

[Cazgar]

Does sound like a bloom & should settle in a few days, unless there's something else going on, only time will tell.
How big is the tank & what's the stocking?

 

[elmo666]

You mention this happening after disturbing the gravel. Do you have any planting medium/fertiliser under the gravel? I got too vigourous gravel cleaning my planted discus tank and released the planting clay into the water, made a right mess and took an age to clear.

 

[pablothebetta]

Does sound like a bloom & should settle in a few days, unless there's something else going on, only time will tell.
How big is the tank & what's the stocking?

It has already been this bad for at least a week or so though - sure it'll go on it's own? Would some "filter floss stuff" be a good idea?

Tank is about 50-60L (2ft Juwel tank) with around 15 odd mixed gender guppies and fry. There are probably only around 6 or so adults with the rest being fry. It must have been set up for at least 5 years odd at a guess. Perhaps the bloom has something to do with bacteria loss during the time when the tank was gutted out? It was in a holding tank with the fish just over night though, so I didn't think the losses would be too bad.

You mention this happening after disturbing the gravel. Do you have any planting medium/fertiliser under the gravel? I got too vigourous gravel cleaning my planted discus tank and released the planting clay into the water, made a right mess and took an age to clear.

Well I believe it initially happened because the tank was so darn filthy - if you are really that interested, there's a thread on the site somewhere about it. No ferts or anything that I saw when it was gutted - just brown sludgey water

 

[elmo666]

If your gravel was excessively dirty and this was disturbed into the water it could well be a bacterial bloom. Small ,regular water changes willhelp minimise the damage and all should settle down given time. Regular tank maintainence is extremely important, there is alot of truth in the saying "look after the water and the fish will look after themselves".

 

[pablothebetta]

Seen as though it isn't my tank, I'd struggle to do very regular w/c's. Once per week is probably all I can manage atm, as they have a goldfish tank as well. Would this help significantly to reduce the issue?

 

[elmo666]

weekly water changes are more than adequate, fort-nightly would be fine. The main porpose of water changes are to clean away dirt using a gravel cleaner, but more importantly to dilute nitrates and other contaminants that build up over time. Also, please ensure the filters are cleaned regularly, not too vigourously, but always in aquarium water.