Tannins in water

[Masha]

Leave it in the filter

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[FallenAngel]

Haha, alright


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[MollysMollies]

So it took just about 24 hours for all the tannins to disappear after I added Purigen. Yay! Beautiful crystal clear water!!

 

[PB_Smith]

Activated charcoal also removes tannins, maybe a bit cheaper?

Activated carbon is actually more expensive because it has a much shorter lifespan and can not be recharged. Purigen lasts 3-4 times longer and can easily be "re-charged" up to six times.
Plus carbon has the potential nasty habits of messing with ph and if not changed soon enough, re-releasing stuff back into the water, and if allowed to get "muck" on it, it loses it's effectiveness.
Purigen suffers from none of those issues.

At first my tank was so saturated with tannins you could not see from one end to the other, and it's only 10 gallons!
200ml of Purigen cleared it in less than 12 hours to crystal clarity.

 

[Masha]

Activated carbon is actually more expensive because it has a much shorter lifespan and can not be recharged. Purigen lasts 3-4 times longer and can easily be "re-charged" up to six times.
Plus carbon has the potential nasty habits of messing with ph and if not changed soon enough, re-releasing stuff back into the water, and if allowed to get "muck" on it, it loses it's effectiveness.
Purigen suffers from none of those issues.

At first my tank was so saturated with tannins you could not see from one end to the other, and it's only 10 gallons!
200ml of Purigen cleared it in less than 12 hours to crystal clarity.

Good point about the price comparison - although it suppose it depends on how long tannins would be leaching, how long you'd need to use the charcoal

I don't use charcoal myself, but you might be interested to know that it's not true that old charcoal re-releases stuff back into the water. Google "Aquarium Charcoal Leach Myth" for several articles on that

Not that it really matters since purigen is, as you point out, probably a better bet in any case. I just don't like seeing that old myth still popping up in forums.

 

[Hobgob]

Why do you want to remove the tannins? I personally think it adds a nice look to the water. Doesn't harm your fish or anything. but I have always had better luck with just soaking the dw for a couple weeks to remove tannins compared to boiling it. I use a white ice cream pale so I can see how yellow the water is each day. Change the water daily. Maybe something you could try next time.

Also can you get some seeded media from anyone? That will help your tank cycle faster. Also I know people are against them but I have had good luck with Nutrafin cycle stuff. I have only ever used it once though and it was a major emergency!! I changed out one of my sponge filter without even thinking about it when I moved all my discus to a different tank one day. Then it started to minicycle so I through it in with my fingers crossed! Next day my parameters were stable.

 

[MollysMollies]

Mopani wood will keep releasing tannins for years n years...it gets so dark from the tannins you can't see through your tank. It's quite excessive.

 

[Hobgob]

So you don't remove it when you do a water change? If the tank is cycling still they should be a lot of that going on and the tannins shouldn't have time to build up right now anyways so there shouldn't be an issue.

 

[MollysMollies]

My tank is fully cycled. Some if it gets removed with my weekly pwc but it is way too dark for me. It looks like a tank full of coke by the end of the week. A light hue is fine, but I don't care for the dark tannin look. My preference is to remove it.

 

[Hobgob]

Will the purigen help my tank cycle faster?


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Ok it's good you have your tank cycle but this isn't your thread. Im concerned about the op's tank.

For your tank what one are you talking about your 5 gal from Santa with all the Molly's or your 20 gal? With such small amounts of water you could just do more pwcs during the week and not allow your tannins to build up as much or you could just remove that wood and find another piece.

Also I must be getting lucky because I've never had a tannins problem like that before and I don't have a clue as to what wood I have. But I do a 30% everyother day so it doesn't really have time to build up.

 

[MollysMollies]

For your tank what one are you talking about your 5 gal from Santa with all the Molly's or your 20 gal? With such small amounts of water you could just do more pwcs during the week and not allow your tannins to build up as much or you could just remove that wood and find another piece.

20 gal. I love the pieces of wood I have so. I'm ok with the no tannins.
My apologies, I didn't mean to take away from the original thread.

 

[Hobgob]

Well I'm happy it worked and guess what I learned something! I've never looked into things to remove tannins before. I'm happy you had a success with it honestly! And in like 22 hours! How much does it cost? If I have an issue I will keep that in mind. As I said I don't read the labels on my dw. Sometimes it just comes from the beach and I just bake it to cure it.

 

[FallenAngel]

Well I'm happy it worked and guess what I learned something! I've never looked into things to remove tannins before. I'm happy you had a success with it honestly! And in like 22 hours! How much does it cost? If I have an issue I will keep that in mind. As I said I don't read the labels on my dw. Sometimes it just comes from the beach and I just bake it to cure it.

The one I bought was about $9 on amazon with free shipping. And you guys can keep talking, I love seeing new questions come up because they help me out in the future. As for the tannins, I do really enjoy them and I love a light hue but my tank is orange. I'll do a 30% water change and it looks perfect then the next day it's to dark again. I was going to do a South American black water aquarium when I bought the wood but discovered afterwards that the species I was wanting for the tank where hard to find in my area and would all really do better in a larger tank than my 30 gallon. I hope to eventually get a 55 gallon for the theme but fit now I decided to just get species I love regardless of where their from (as long as they are comparable of course) plus I bought a bunch of S.A. Plants and accidentally killed them all when the tank overheated one day and I don't want to spend more money on live plants at the moment, I'm just going to use the anubias and swords I already have. I have to keep the tank easy to maintain as well because my parents will have to take care of it when I go to college and if it was a S.A. Tank, I can almost guarantee they'll add fish that aren't from S.A. While I'm away.


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[FallenAngel]

Just to let everyone know, the purigen worked wonders in my tank! A++++++


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[FallenAngel]

Before
After


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[Kimbie]

So do you have to buy the purigen seperate from a media bag?

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[Kimbie]

I just bought a bag of purigen. Before and after pictures coming

 

[FallenAngel]

I just bought a bag of purigen. Before and after pictures coming

Haha, awesome, here's my final pic now that everything's added!



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[AdamsAquarium]

Sorry about the photo coming in sideways. I'm with Kimbie and our tank is so yellow it's hard to see all the way through. This is the before picture. Just plugged the purigen in and we will see what happens! Heard good things

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[AdamsAquarium]

Check it out! After just 5 hours, look how much has changed! It says 24 hours and it should be completly clear. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and see it!

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