Wood Turning Water Tea Color

[mrbonzai]

I went to my local mom and pop fish store where the guy who owns it told me the bank sold him a large portion of wood one of his former suppliers imported from Africa. The owner also told me that the supplier had purchased the whole shipment for $150,000 but couldn't finance it in the end so the bank repossessed the wood. Anyways, I took home a four foot piece and two smaller pieces between 12 and 16 inches. After sinking the wood in my tank my water slowly started to turn tea colored and is now quite dark and I was wondering if this coloring is harmful to my fish, and if the tea colored water will kill all of the new plants I just put in the tank. All I know about the wood is that it appears to be very old wood compared to normal drift wood and that it is from Africa. I hope that is enough information and hopefully someone can advise me on what to do in case something goes wrong.

P.S.

I just talked to the owner on the phone and he told me that the wood has special compounds and electrolytes in it that is beneficial for the fish, but I'm skeptical of this claim and I'm still not sure if the dark color will effect my plants.

 

[fergalthefish]

you should always thoroughly soak things before putting in tanks especially wood to allow the tannin(the brown colouring you're getting) to come out.

 

[SJ2K]

Very normal dont worry all woods will release whats referred to as tannings. To avoid these you can soak them in a bucket of water untill it stops changing the colour. Its in no way harmful to either plant nor fish and is infact prefferable A few water changes down the line and the water will be clear again

 

[mrbonzai]

I did soak the wood for about an hour before hand, but I have a ridiculous amount of wood in my tank (the biggest piece only fit after a good 15 minute struggle to wedge it in somehow.... it's incredible I didn't break the glass) which is making the tanning more prominent.

Still though, will the darkening make my plants starve for light? I'm really nervous about that.

And also, I just did a 40% water change (which is large I know but it needed it), so with the new plants and wood how long should I wait to do another water change and should I stick to the standard 25% or can I go higher?

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

If you place some activated carbon in the tank and that will remove the tannins. The tannin is a naturally occuring organic compound which will turn the water brown and drop the ph slightly, nothing to worry about and the plants will not mind this at all. They will still be recieving light.

Use the carbon and a 50% water change and you will be clear in no time. when the tank is clear remove the carbon from the filter and yor sorted.

Chris

 

[mrbonzai]

Can I do the 50% water changes weekly, or will this hurt my plants by messing with the nitrogen cycle too much>?

 

[SJ2K]

50% Weekly is good and most people would recommend soaking the wood for up to a few weeks, not just an hour

 

[Old Hippie]

I'm having similar issues with some wood. A local fish shop recomended boiling the wood to speed things up. This certainly seems to suck the tannins out. But even after 30+ hours of boiling, it still turns the water very red. My solution was to stick the wood in a 5 gallon bucket of water and just let it soak until the thing stops leaching color. I also really liked Chris Is A Dude's solution. Using carbon would allow you to keep the wood in the tank. Good thing too. Sounds like it's wedged in there pretty tight. But is carbon ok in a planted aquarium? I've read & heard it pulls nutrients out of the water. Any thoughts?

 

[Darkstar]

Bogwood will always leach although it will reduce over time. I've had pieces leaching for years.

I did soak the wood for about an hour before hand, but I have a ridiculous amount of wood in my tank (the biggest piece only fit after a good 15 minute struggle to wedge it in somehow.... it's incredible I didn't break the glass) which is making the tanning more prominent.

I would take that out immediately, bogwood will increase is size as it's absorbs water. Trust me on this, I did the same thing once with a piece of bogwood which was about 5mm smaller than the width of the tank. 3 months later or thereabouts, while lying on the couch one evening I heard a crack....the back pane of glass of the tank had cracked due the the wood expanding, which resulted in a lot of water all over the floor and me have to rapidly move the fish into other tanks.

 

[dragons_shadow]

i had the same prob wih some mopan wood spent weeks trying to soke it
every time it would turn to nasty water so in the end i just gave it all to my lizard
wood cost about £85 as well

 

[greenscooby]

Apart from your tank cracking, i wouldn't worry too much about the colour, many fish and plants thrive in this tea coloured water i'd remove it and cut it too size.

All the boiling does is kill any nasties in the wood, i put my bogwood in a bucket and filled it with boiling water, i done this twice a day for 5 days, put it in my tank and hey presto tea coloured water, i quite liked the colour, it all depends on taste, as always regular water changes will help to dilute the tannins, and bring your tank back to normal(if there is such a thing as normal!!)

Hope this helps,

Mark.