Yellow water !?!?!?!?!

[mfdrookie516]

hey guys, so i have a 55gal community tank, all was great until today... i added a piece of driftwood (straight from another guys tank that looked beautiful) last night. i had some trouble with it floating so i turned it upside down and used the slate fastened to the bottom to hold it down against the center support... this morning, it looked great, the fish were all happy... this afternoon, about 30 minutes ago, my fiance pointed out that the water looked yellow. at first glance i thought it was the light, then i got worried, looked in it, and its yellow... like those cheap safety glasses that make everything yellow... ive got about 2/3 of the water out, im hoping the filter will filter it out... any suggestions? do you think its related to the driftwood?

 

[mfdrookie516]

almost forgot... 2 guppies died in the last hour.. i put them in some water out of another tank same temp and everything...

 

[CaptainAhab]

IMO sounds like tannins from the drift. You added something new and something bad happened.. I'd remove the new if it were me

 

[mfdrookie516]

im considering burning the driftwood now... i had such a pretty tank... crystal clear water, all the fish were healthy and happy... im guessing it had to be the driftwood. what gets me is that it came out of another tank 5 minutes before i put it in mine, and his wasnt yellow... the fish seem happy now that i got them out of the yellow water and in to the clean clear water, and none have died since the change. wow, now i understand why some people get so frustrated.

 

[CaptainAhab]

I certainly can't speak definitively but it might be that your water params are different enough to have caused the release.. Dunno.. Just a big believer in cause/effect relationships.

maybe not burn it but 'fix' it after you get it out and then return?

Anyway, good luck

 

[mfdrookie516]

thanks captainahab... i might save it.. it was expensive for the guy who gave it to me... i might take it back and let him use it... makes sense though about the water params because his is just a planted tank... big time planted... thanks, i took all the gravel out already, on my way to get the pfs now... ill have pics later

 

[Mystery]

I gree, it was almost certainly the driftwood reacting to a dry out period or the new water params.

 

[mom2reds]

i would take the Dw out and boil it or at least soak it really good in very hot water untill the water stays clear then it won't or shouldn't leach any color in your tank. Do a coulple of big water changes in your tank and that should help clear your water. DW can also change your water parameters so that might be what killed your fish.
Good luck and i hope your tank will stablize back out.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Yep boil it then let it sit in the sun.

The yellow is tannins and those are completely harmless to your fish, I am beginning to think that something was in there.
I might be anal but I ALWAYS throughly clean anything or QT it before it goes into my tanks.

Its just cheap insurance, Id take it out, clean that thing REAL good even use a scrub brush it wont hurt the wood, do a 50% WC let that settle for a bit then re-add the driftwood.


There are different types of driftwoods too, mind taking a pic for us, it almost sounds like its a chunk of mopani to release tannins like that, grapevine and jsut softwood driftwood doesnt do that after periods of time submerged.

Does that wood look like two tone or real dark out of water?

 

[kaiofcanada]

hey guys, so i have a 55gal community tank, all was great until today... i added a piece of driftwood (straight from another guys tank that looked beautiful) last night. i had some trouble with it floating so i turned it upside down and used the slate fastened to the bottom to hold it down against the center support... this morning, it looked great, the fish were all happy... this afternoon, about 30 minutes ago, my fiance pointed out that the water looked yellow. at first glance i thought it was the light, then i got worried, looked in it, and its yellow... like those cheap safety glasses that make everything yellow... ive got about 2/3 of the water out, im hoping the filter will filter it out... any suggestions? do you think its related to the driftwood?

If your water was significantly harder than your friends, it may have triggered the tannin release. Even though the piece had previously been cured, you may need to recure it for you tank set up. I would definitely start by scrubbing it down and boiling it for 1-2 hours, low boil...and then soaking it in dechlorinated water for up to two weeks. Just keep track of the coloration ...when it stops looking like tea you may add it back to your tank.

Most driftwood, even cured and older pieces can still retain bouyancy, so you may have to tether it down even after you cure it for your tank.

 

[WhiteDevil]

I plan on going wading next wednesday evening( fly fishing and driftwood collecting) I can write up or see if I already have it on here, but how to clean and properly cure the driftwood.


I use a plastic kids pool to long term soak stuff, a basketball sized rubber ball they sell for a buck at wal-mart thrown in there and a tarp over it completely tied down, 3 months later I have driftwood, weak driftwood but if you soak it longer and release a 2nd set of tannins it wont tint your water once it gets in the tank.

Mopani like I mentioned before secretes tannins like crazy. My fish liked the stained water better then the clear, some reason there was ALOT less stress.

 

[mfdrookie516]

ok, so i did pretty much a full water change... i took all but 4" out, changed the gravel out to pfs, took about 15 gallons from each of my other 55's, and filled it up with fresh water... its doing really well now, i have the driftwood out... its soaking in a bucket now... and the water is almost brown... that was most definately the culprit. so i have one piece about 2 feet tall, light colored, has tiny holes over the whole thing... the other piece is real dark, smaller, and doesnt have holes... heres a pic... maybe that will answer what kind it is at least... and ill know in the future (if i ever get the nerve to try it again) how to PROPERLY introduce driftwood in to my aquarium... thanks guys... any ideas what this is?

p.s.
please excuse the mess... in the process of painting

 

[RazorbacksFan]

ok, so i did pretty much a full water change... i took all but 4" out, changed the gravel out to pfs, took about 15 gallons from each of my other 55's, and filled it up with fresh water... its doing really well now, i have the driftwood out... its soaking in a bucket now... and the water is almost brown... that was most definately the culprit. so i have one piece about 2 feet tall, light colored, has tiny holes over the whole thing... the other piece is real dark, smaller, and doesnt have holes... heres a pic... maybe that will answer what kind it is at least... and ill know in the future (if i ever get the nerve to try it again) how to PROPERLY introduce driftwood in to my aquarium... thanks guys... any ideas what this is?

p.s.
please excuse the mess... in the process of painting

Why did you take water out of the other tanks to put in that tank? It really has no benefit as far as beneficial bacteria and could possibly cross contaminate the tanks if you had a disease problem starting.

 

[mfdrookie516]

oh, well there was a guy at a lfs here that had told me if i ever had to do an emergency water change, to put about half the water in out of other tanks because its already cycled... i was trying to avoid having to cycle that tank because i had fish that had to go in it last night... it cleared up real well... i tested the water 3 or 4 times to make sure it was ok before i put the fish in... so in the future, thats the wrong thing to do? how do i keep from having to cycle the tank in the future if i have to do a full water change, or at least all but 4"?

 

[FishEggs]

the bacteria colonizes surfaces in the aquarium like decorations, gravel, plants, rocks and most of all the porous high surface area filter media. if your filter stays wet while changing the water you will be fine. you may experience a minor mini cycle when changing out the substrate but nothing to really worry about unless you have super sensitive fish.

 

[mfdrookie516]

oh ok, well i guess i screwed that all up then, because i thoroughly rinsed all the decor, i did keep the filter wet, plus i had my canister which i just closed the valve until i had water back in it... but since the "dust settled" i havent got the cloudiness i usually get when a tank starts to cycle, so i guess its gonna be ok... ill keep that in mind for future reference though, i learn something new every day on here... thanks