So yesterday i pulled all my fake plants and put in some i purchased from the ac classifieds and a couple pieces of driftwood ive had soaking for a couple weeks now..and a couple of rocks i pulled from a small stream while on vaca. Everything was beautiful yesterday but i noticed when i got up today that the water has a slightly greenish/brown tint. My friend insists it is because of the white rock i have and no background sitting next to a white wall and all the green from the plants is reflecting off both of those. Was just wondering if this is possible or if it could be from the wood i introduced. thx
change in water apperance
- Thread starter Krilorn
- Start date
Yes, driftwood can cause a slight brown cast to the water but it will dissipate over time as the driftwood ages.
It's normal. It is just tannins leaching out of the wood. If you ever make tea, you can see this process, as tasty tannins leach out of the tea leaves and into the water. If you put some activated carbon into the filter, it'll help clear it out, but it's not harmful. In fact, a lot of fish love it!
just keep carbon in thetank till the tannins run low,.. might take a while i have some wood soaked in boiling water for over 2 months and it still was leecheing and so i gave up and put it in anyway,.. carbon helps the discoloration,..
I'm assuming you wern't boiling CONTINUOUSLY for 2 months!
I'm getting a mental image...
"Honey can I use the stove yet?"
"No- wait a few more weeks- I've still got some driftwood boiling"
I think I'm following the same path- wood soaked in salt water to leech tannins out faster... coming on 3 weeks now outside in a bucket- still gets a little brown coloured after a nights sitting... less and less all the time- but still not clear.
I'll move it inside to boil and speed up the process once it can go a few days without discolouring the water... Currently I'm changing the water every 2 or 3 days.
Sweet i just went and checkout out the tank and notice the fish do seem to be quite a bit more active and colorful...my odessa barb amost looks like he is ready to mate with his orange/red stripe comming through brilliantly, so they must be loving the tannin. thx for the help i was so worried.
BettaFishMommy
finkids make me happy :-)
BettaFishMommy
finkids make me happy :-)
Wycco, you are not planning on having snails in the tank this wood is going into, are you? the salt that you are using in the soak water is causing salt to leach into the wood and will not come out of the wood after, far as i know. and salt is hazardous to snails.