Reddish Hue to the Water

[syrett4]

I have a new setup of an existing 30-gallon tank and have introduced 12 small cichlids. I have purple shale in the back and driftwood. We also have hard water. On Wednesday, I noticed a red hue to the color of the water. I rinsed everything off well before placing it in the tank.

I just did a 20% water change and it helped a little but its still pretty red. Any ideas? Is there something I should add? Take out?

Other than the redness, the fish seem to be doing fine, are very active and I have been very careful to not overfeed them.

[Rbishop]

What kind of driftwood and shale?

[magakitty]

probably tanins from the driftwood

[echoofformless]

Who are the cichlids? (The type makes a large difference in which water chemistry you would do best to have.)

The red color is due to the driftwood and the tannins that come from it. If you are keeping most species of New World cichlids, this is a welcome water conditioner of sorts because those fish generally prefer softer, more acidic waters with the slight tint of amber/red/brown.

If you are keeping Africans, we'll take it from there.

[magakitty]

:iagree:

[syrett4]

What kind of driftwood and shale?

I think it was Malaysian for the drift wood and I'm not sure about the type of shale. The shale is purple and cost me about $1.89 a lb at a local discount pet store. It wasn't anything high end, thats for sure.

Hope that helps, and thanks for yours.

[syrett4]

Who are the cichlids? (The type makes a large difference in which water chemistry you would do best to have.)

The red color is due to the driftwood and the tannins that come from it. If you are keeping most species of New World cichlids, this is a welcome water conditioner of sorts because those fish generally prefer softer, more acidic waters with the slight tint of amber/red/brown.

If you are keeping Africans, we'll take it from there.

Lithobates, Bumble bee, Lemon yellows and a couple others. I thought it might have been the driftwood too but I put it in there on Sunday and it didn't turn reddish until Wednesday.

Thanks everyone, the fast response is overwhelming.

[echoofformless]

It is the driftwood. That is about the time it takes.

You're keeping Africans so it might be a wise choice to remove the driftwood.

You can keep it, but that would require buffering to keep the water hard and acidic.

But also - Africans do require a little more hardness and alkalinity in their water than the average water supply tends to have. Have you tested your source water's parameters?

[syrett4]

It is the driftwood. That is about the time it takes.

You're keeping Africans so it might be a wise choice to remove the driftwood.

You can keep it, but that would require buffering to keep the water hard and acidic.

But also - Africans do require a little more hardness and alkalinity in their water than the average water supply tends to have. Have you tested your source water's parameters?

Well...I should get it tested but I know our water is good old Midwestern hard well water. I think I'll start by taking the driftwood out.

Thanks everyone!!

[magakitty]

We have a piece of driftwood in our african tank, but we also have a lot of buffering media, like coral and shell, and lots and lots and lots and lots of rock. The driftwood is for the catfish, but the fry love it for hiding in, under and around