Water Is Clear With A Brownish / Greenish Tint

[nightlite]

Hi all,

I've just started planting in my small 35liter tank...after a few days the water which is still clear has a brownish / greenish tint... is this due to the driftwood i placed in there? ... or the decomposing of some of the plants??? I sort of blundered and tried to grow some Hard to grow plants meant for advance ppl....

 

[Glod]

Did you soak the wood before placing it in the tank ? If the colour is yellow/brown then it's probably the tannins from the wood. They will lessen as time goes on with water changes but it could take a long time They may look a bit unsightly but they are harmless to the fish and give them some security. If it's the start of green water you'll soon know about it, there's a pinned thread with algae resources.

 

[nightlite]

Did you soak the wood before placing it in the tank ? If the colour is yellow/brown then it's probably the tannins from the wood. They will lessen as time goes on with water changes but it could take a long time They may look a bit unsightly but they are harmless to the fish and give them some security. If it's the start of green water you'll soon know about it, there's a pinned thread with algae resources.

oh oh!! I didn't soak the wood first.... and yes it's yellow/brown... should I just take out the wood and soak it (for how long and with what?)... and do water changes for a week or so

 

[Underwurlde]

If you want to, or just add carbon to your filter. The tannin itself is nothing to worry about, just a bit unsightly.

Take the driftwood out and boil it for an hour (this you CERTAINLY should have been told to do by the LFS).
from then on, soak it fully immersed in very hot water (change it daily). After about a week or 2 you'll notice the water you change getting clearer & clearer. When you're happy, pop it back in.

Andy

 

[Aeropars]

Or if you dont have a pan big enough use the bath or sink. Realistically you only need to get it heated to over 72 degrees C

 

[Underwurlde]

Why 72°C dude?

 

[Aeropars]

Going on general bacteria guidlines for food and sterilisation, things need to be heated to 72 to kill 99% of bacteria.

 

[nightlite]

If you want to, or just add carbon to your filter. The tannin itself is nothing to worry about, just a bit unsightly.

Take the driftwood out and boil it for an hour (this you CERTAINLY should have been told to do by the LFS).
from then on, soak it fully immersed in very hot water (change it daily). After about a week or 2 you'll notice the water you change getting clearer & clearer. When you're happy, pop it back in.

Andy

Thanks for info Andy....

I was told by local petshop that carbon was bad for planted tanks........so just adding carbon in my filter would work and I don't have to take the driftwood out??? or do I do both..?

 

[Underwurlde]

I would advise anyone with plants to remove the carbon from their filters.

But under these conditions, carbon still has its use, for example to clean out meds after a course has been adminstered.

Carbon is not bad for plants per se, its just that the carbon can remove things that are useful for the plants, i.e. nutrients that they need to grow.

So in other words, short term use of carbon in a planted tank is fine, however long term, remove it.

Hence it is up to you:
i) Leave the drift wood in there and use carbon.
ii) Remove the driftwood and boil / soak it.

If it were me, I'd go for option ii) as is will be far quicker.

Andy

 

[HelenUK]

I would advise anyone with plants to remove the carbon from their filters.

But under these conditions, carbon still has its use, for example to clean out meds after a course has been adminstered.

Carbon is not bad for plants per se, its just that the carbon can remove things that are useful for the plants, i.e. nutrients that they need to grow.

So in other words, short term use of carbon in a planted tank is fine, however long term, remove it.

Hence it is up to you:
i) Leave the drift wood in there and use carbon.
ii) Remove the driftwood and boil / soak it.

If it were me, I'd go for option ii) as is will be far quicker.

Andy

Wow thanks this reply was useful to me this could well be the reason why live plants never did very well for me as i always use carbon in the filters. Thanks for that bit of info very intresting to know

 

[thefirethief]

Going on general bacteria guidlines for food and sterilisation, things need to be heated to 72 to kill 99% of bacteria.

Good to know however in this case the reason for boiling isn't to kill bacteria, its to leech the tannins out of the wood. Im guessing the higher the temperature the quicker this will happen.

Nightlite, Ive had trouble with tannins for months on end despite boilings and carbon in my filters so dont be surprised if it seems like a losing battle. Just bear in mind that for a lot of set-ups brown water is something to aim for, especially south american set ups.

I grown to accept it after a while and actually started liking it, its just frustrating when non fish keepers come into the house and comment on how dirty the tank is. : S

 

[Glod]

I kinda like slight colouration from tannins myself. There's a tank at my lfs where they just dumped in some unsoaked wood and the water is like very dark tea. Looks unsightly but the fish in there are thriving.

 

[nightlite]

Good to know however in this case the reason for boiling isn't to kill bacteria, its to leech the tannins out of the wood. Im guessing the higher the temperature the quicker this will happen.

Nightlite, Ive had trouble with tannins for months on end despite boilings and carbon in my filters so dont be surprised if it seems like a losing battle. Just bear in mind that for a lot of set-ups brown water is something to aim for, especially south american set ups.

I grown to accept it after a while and actually started liking it, its just frustrating when non fish keepers come into the house and comment on how dirty the tank is. : S

hehehe ... ya i sort of settled for it until every relative that came over commented that my water was like tea...

well i've taken the driftwood out.. and boiled it for an hour and it's sitting in the water... until the water is cool..... I'll try boiling it over the next few days...

now that I look at my setup without the driftwood.. it still looks ok...

 

[Glod]

When I soaked my bogwood, I stuck it in a pail of water as hot as the tap would go (my tap water gets pretty hot) changing it 2 or 3 times a day for the first few days. Then I'd try it in a bucket of cold water and see if it still leeched tanin. If the cold water discoloured in 24 hours it was back to the hot water treatment which seemed to "pull" the tanin out of the wood faster.

 

[Underwurlde]

Agreed. Similar to what I did to my Mopani.

Andy