fishy water pigment

P

poisson

Registered Member
Jun 28, 2004
3
0
0
Visit site
Over the past couple of months, the water in my brother's fish tank has turned a bizarre amber-red. He has neglected to do anything about it, since the fish are still perfectly healthy. While this seems to be true, the fact that our fish tank water is RED still makes me nervous.

The tank contains your average assortment of angelfish, tetras, etc, as well as a couple plants. It does have quite a bit of algae growing in it. Any guesses as to the source of this mysterious pigment?
 
A wild guess, shot in the dark, could it be unicellular red algae? Have you tested all your water parameters and spoken to your local treatment plant about possible sources? Do you have any decorations that could be leaching pigments or dyes? Sometimes coloured gravel isn't well made and the colour comes off into the water. Can't think of anything else off the top of my head, best of luck. Glad the fish are still fine, but I'd definitely keep up the detective work until you find the source.
 
I was thinking it might be some kind of weird algae. Considering the state of the tank, just about anything could be growing in there.

Dye... hmm... unless someone knocked a container of red food dye into the tank without telling us, it's unlikely, since we haven't changed the gravel or added anything to the tank.

Thank you for your help! I'll definitely look into testing the water beyond the routine pH, etc.
 
Hey poisson (pronounced p-wah-son right?) do you have any drift wood in your tank? Malaysian driftwood is known to tint the water an amberish color which is easily gotten rid of with a couple of water changes or soaking it in water prior to introducing it to your tank. HTH




Serg
 
"Pwahson" is more-or-less right. :)

We do have driftwood; most of it has been in there for quite some time, but some of it may have been added more recently. The color is definitely an amber-red, so it's a possibility.
 
It's deffinitely the driftwood then that's causing your water color. Some people prefer that color but it fades after a few water changes, so if you want to keep it, look for some "blackwater" treatments that will keep your water that tinted color. Fish from the Amazonian region like the tint a lot, I think it makes neons healthier.





Serg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom