How many tannins are too much?

[Quin]

It looks nice my 55 gallon is a bit dark right now. Not like that but still orange water. My family told me I need to clean my tank but I told them it was just tannins

Lol my mom said the same but I already touched on tannins with her so she understood pretty quickly. She hates the gravel bag though

 

[Colin_T]

Why is there a bag of coloured gravel in the tank?
Remove that and leave it out. If you want coloured substrate, then have coloured substrate but don't have a bag of gravel sitting in the tank. It looks ridiculous.

 

[corylover5]

Why is there a bag of coloured gravel in the tank?
Remove that and leave it out. If you want coloured substrate, then have coloured substrate but don't have a bag of gravel sitting in the tank. It looks ridiculous.

I think the gravel is in their because it was previously used and has beneficial bacteria so it is in there to help with cycling.

 

[Colin_T]

The bag of coloured gravel is sealed in plastic and won't be doing anything to help the filter cycle. If you want to use gravel from an established tank to help speed up the cycling in another tank, you put the gravel in a mesh bag and put that in the filter.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

The bag of coloured gravel is sealed in plastic and won't be doing anything to help the filter cycle. If you want to use gravel from an established tank to help speed up the cycling in another tank, you put the gravel in a mesh bag and put that in the filter.

@Quin said that she left the bag in there, to complete her cycle. She also said that she poked holes in it. So I guess it is doing some good...? I personally wouldn't do it, because its looks bad.

@Quin, your tank is looking good! Remember, if you want it to be less brown, then just preform large water changes.

 

[Quin]

The bag of coloured gravel is sealed in plastic and won't be doing anything to help the filter cycle. If you want to use gravel from an established tank to help speed up the cycling in another tank, you put the gravel in a mesh bag and put that in the filter.

As @PheonixKingZ said the gravel bag is in there for that purpose. Believe me I don't prefer the aesthetic visual of it, but I also don't want to risk breaking my cycle to avoid the stresses that come with that. It has numerous holes poked in it and the top is open to allow the bacteria out. I added SafeStart as well to reduce the time it's going to stay in there.

It is definitely a bit of a bother and an eye sore, but once I'm sure the cycle hasn't been broken it's going right in the garbage

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Sounds good!