Driftwood and water Quality

[Stuquarium]

hey guys.

i have a Discus tank thats got 3 peices of driftwood, small, medium and large, i use a small light, on a 4ft tank it's a 18" light.

it's seems the water, although ALL the water chemistry is excellent (and i change 30% of it every 3 days)that it's got an softy brownish amber tinge to it, it's not typically crystal clear. i was wondering from those people with driftwood in there tanks that this is a normal thing with the water and DW or theres something in my driftwood thats casueing this..

the tanks 4 months old now. the woods been in 3. i really don;t mind about the color, as it gives the impression that it's deep in the amazon. i was just curious

 

[Jchillin]

What you are seeing is called Tannins. This is a chemical that does no harm to fish and does turn the water yellow/brown. It will dissipate in time. Frequent water changes will help but since you have discus, you are doing this already.

 

[Stuquarium]

thanks for that,

how long will it take to dissapate?

 

[tetrin]

depends on how long the DW was soaked in water before it was put in the water. it'll continue to leach tannins till they are exhausted. i still have a light coffee color in my 20g after a month (4 small pieces).
AC will help with the issue, but it'll also remove some minerals / chemicals that you might actually need in a discus tank...

 

[Stuquarium]

i soaked the peices for about an hour each.. and that was 3 months ago..

so i guess it will sort itself out intime eh