Brown Cloudy Water

[packagerat]

I have a new 72 gallon freshwater tank, it's had 4 neon tetras and 3 cory catfish in it for 1 week now. I have 2 pieces of natural driftwood in it. THe water is very cloudy and brown looking. Is this the normal nitrogen process, or could something be wrong? If it's normal, how long before it clears, and do you recommend chemicals? The ammonia content is low according to our AP solution test kit.

 

[Devilishturtles]

How long since you added the driftwood? Could be tannins that the driftwood is realeasing into your water.

 

[packagerat]

We soaked the small piece of driftwood for 1 week before adding to the tank. We added a larger piece of wood the day we filled the tank--should we take it out and soak it?

 

[rich311k]

If you have a pot big enough boil it for a while. AC will help take the brown out of the water.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Sounds like Tannins, won't hurt the fish any. You will also have to do lots of PWC's til the tank cycles as well. As for the driftwood, you could boil it or pour boiling water over it in the sink. That will help some. Could also run some AC in the filter til it clears up some. But you'll have to change out the AC every few days as it will become used up, and will need new. But that will help clear the water up a bit. Another thing is like I did, kept the driftwood in a large bucket of water for 3-4 weeks, changing the water every 2-3 days. Then add to the tank. Those are just some ideas you can go over.

 

[packagerat]

Thanks for the information. I removed the driftwood and have them soaking in a bucket. The water is already tinting brown. Did a PWC that cleared things up quite a bit, and have added AC to my filter. Once again Thanks !