driftwood coloring water

[Catalina]

Yesterday I put a piece of driftwood in my ten gallon tank. I boiled it for an hour first. I was too impatient to let it soak in a bucket to leech out all the sediments that color the water. Now, the water has a definite tannish tint to it. This doesn't seem to harm the fish, but i was just making sure that weekly water changes willl eventually be enough to get rid of the unwanted coloring?
The fish actually seem to really enjoy the water as it is right now. I got two live plants as well, and they really like those. I don't want my water to be colored, but these additions definitely make the tank closer a natural environment.

 

[littlelouie]

Hey Catalina,

I have had a piece of driftwood in my 6gal for 8 or so weeks now and still get a yellowish tint to my water. I soaked the wood in fresh water each day for 1 week before adding to the tank.

My cardinal tetras love it and the plants seem to be doing well too. It does give the tank a more natural look but if you really don't want the colouring I believe that carbon filtration will clear it up. I use eclipse style cartridges but the water generally only stays crystal clear for appx 1 week.

It shouldn't harm your fish (btw what do you keep?) but keep an eye on your water as the wood my cause it to drop in pH and can soften it too.

Louise

 

[jackie]

hi catalina , even after soaking driftwood has a habit of leaching into the water, as littlelouie said it doesnt harm your fish , some fish actually need driftwood in their diet[some catfish]it does become less coloured after water changes, but i have got used to it being like that now . the fish are happy. jackie

 

[tkos]

Tetras love the tannin water. It is very much like the leaf soaked waters of South America. And it will help the plants int he tank grow a bit as well (tannins). New pieces of Drift wood can take a long time somtimes to get rid of all of that colouring. Drift wood is also a great place to attach java fern or java moss for that even more natural look.

 

[shawmutt]

What kind of fish do you have? Like what was said before, some fish like what the wood does to the water. However, wood softens the water a bit, so if you needed harder water you might have problems.

As far as the color, a carbon filter will remove most of it.

 

[Catalina]

Well, I have two cory cats and a dwarf gourami right now, so the softening of the water shouldn't be a problem. The corys really love the driftwood, one of them keeps swimming deep into a little hole on it and i am worried that he won't be able to get out, but he seems to know what he's doing.
I plan to add a school of four or five neon tetras, but my nitritItes are taking FOREVER to disappear. The fish i have now are handling it well, but obviously i can't get any new fish until it happens. It's been at least 3 weeks since the nitrites first showed up, does anyone know how much longer i can expect it to take?

 

[tkos]

Make sure to do water changes to get those nitrites down. They are just as poisonous to fish as ammonia.

 

[littlelouie]

Cycling a tank differs between tanks...I have had what I thought a spike in ammonia then they dropped, a gradual increase in nitrites but now my recent readings have been Ammonia: 0.25ppm & Nitrite: 0.01ppm. (after the nitrites have been at 0.000ppm for a while).

I test every 3rd day & use a very accurate Lamotte colorimeter but I am wondering if a standard test kit would read much lower. The pH has maintained at 7.1pH the whole time. The fish (5 cardinals & 1 clown loach) are brightly coloured and active, no signs of stress to me. I am on the 61st day (8th week) and wonder if a standard kit would indicate a completed cycle.

I'm not too fussed as I won't be adding any more fish to my tank but will continue monitoring the water

Maybe a post on how long each members tanks took to cycle and the max. spike reached for ammonia and nitrite would be helpful to everyone

Louise

 

[Catalina]

Make sure to do water changes to get those nitrites down. They are just as poisonous to fish as ammonia

I am aware of this, as I had a fish die in my other tank because of high nitrites. I am doing water changes pretty much every other day. I just want the tank to finish its cycle so I can stop stressing so much and relax and enjoy it. The fish seem to be doing fine, though. I think they are just stronger than the fish I had in my other tank.

Louise, those are some REALLY low nitrite readings. .01 would probably not even be detectable with a standard test kit. I'm not sure why your ammonia has gone back up, though. Isn't it frustrating? Having a thread where people posted about how long their tanks took to cycle is a great idea. Maybe you should start one?

 

[shawmutt]

I don't know if is the same for neons, but it was suggested by more than one source that my cardinals would not fare well in a new tank--the tank should be at least 6 months old. Neons may be different because the majority of them are tank raised.

 

[Catalina]

I have heard cardinals are more sensitive than neons. I was going to ask about that on this site, but I read so much saying that cardinals were more sensitive, that I figured it wasn't neccessary. There is even a post about neon tetras on the fish profiles board. The only thing I have heard of that makes them more vulnerable than cardinals is their susceptibility to neon tetra disease (i think that is what it is called?)

 

[littlelouie]

I think the driftwood in the tank helps the cardinals shawmutt.

I was advised by the lfs to get these fish for my 6gal tank (go figure) I wish I had discovered Aquarium Advice before I started my tank again. I never knew about the cycle before reading it on this site and I had kept the 6 gal for 18mths with goldfish, white clouds and a bristlenose catfish without doing anything other than w/c each fortnight and filter change 1 per mth. There were no live plants either.

I wouldn't suggest a new tank be cycled with fish but if so I definitely would not recommend cardinal tetras or a clown loach. :|

After a discussion with a new lfs I was told that generally uneducated fish keepers have the most luck in keeping their fish, it's people like me who watch everything that have the trouble!

I know that the more I learn and the more I understand the ways of keeping water I will have success keeping fish
Louise

 

[shawmutt]

After a discussion with a new lfs I was told that generally uneducated fish keepers have the most luck in keeping their fish, it's people like me who watch everything that have the trouble!

LOL...isn't that the truth! The previous tank owner, my father-in-law, had angelfish in the tank, most of them lived to over 5 years old, the last one clocked out at over 10 years! The entire tank was choked with java fern, and all he did was clean the front glass, feed them once in a while, and top off the tank! As a matter of fact, the angel didn't die until he moved the tank over to my apartment . I was just dating his daughter at the time, do I know how to make an impression or what 8O.

 

[littlelouie]

It's always the way it goes!!!

Anyway...you did make an impression:

my father-in-law

I'm sure it's all forgotten now

LL