No crystal clear anymore...

[Bayo]

I bought some interesting peace of drift wood from my LFS yesterday and put it in my tank. Evever since then, my water is not crystal clear anymore. The tank is fully cycled and well stablished.

Will the cloudiness in the water eventually settle down or is this something that I just need to accept that my water will not be crystal clear anymore? I read somewhere that the driftwood will release tannins and this will cause brownish cloudiness in the water.

Heeeeeeeelpp...

 

[George9]

Yep, the tannins will make your water brown for a long time. It's not harmful to fish, just looks bad. If your fine with it, you don't have to do anything. If you want it gone, add some carbon or purigen into the filter. Otherwise, the tannins will go away eventually with your weekly water changes.

 

[Bayo]

Thank you! I'm the type of person that really enjoy the crystal clear looks of the aquarium so I would follow your instructions to have my crystal clear water back!

When you say to add carbon to the filter, what do you mean? In my filtration system, I have carbon, is this what you mean?

Cheers!

 

[George9]

Thank you! I'm the type of person that really enjoy the crystal clear looks of the aquarium so I would follow your instructions to have my crystal clear water back!

When you say to add carbon to the filter, what do you mean? In my filtration system, I have carbon, is this what you mean?

Cheers!

Yeah, since you already have carbon, it should remove a lot of the tannins from the water. What size tank?

 

[Bayo]

The tank is only 6 gallons, planted with 2 anubias, 2 cryptocorynes and 2 other pants that I can't remember they type

 

[Duddits]

I recently added dw to my tank. Even though I soaked, scrubbed and ran the wood through the dishwasher I still had tannins leach and turn my water from crystal clear to tea looking water. I added "Reef Carbon" to my tank by cutting some panty hose, filling it up, tiieing a knot in the pantyhose and placing it in my filter. Within days I noticed a difference. My water is almost crystal clear again. I promise you'll be happy with th results and will have your tank pretty again

 

[somethingsfishy]

You cannot remove the tannis from the water. It's permanent from the dw. If the brown water is a problem then remove the dw, but as long as it leaches tannis, the water will be brown. I have a 90 that has black water from dw and it's been over a year. My species love it though.

 

[George9]

You cannot remove the tannis from the water. It's permanent from the dw. If the brown water is a problem then remove the dw, but as long as it leaches tannis, the water will be brown. I have a 90 that has black water from dw and it's been over a year. My species love it though.

Eventually, the tannins will go away though with water changes. Even though it takes a whilleee

 

[somethingsfishy]

As long as the dw breaks down, it will leak tannis. I've done alot of wate changes to no avail.

 

[librarygirl]

I think it depends on the type of wood and how large the piece is. I've had driftwood that's leeched mild tannins for a week or so and then went away. Try it for a while, see what happens. If it doesn't clear up and you don't like it just remove it. You can also try boiling it which will help leech the tannins faster. It won't bother the fish or anything though and in fact some fish like brownish water.

 

[jetajockey]

It'll eventually stop leaching. To avoid tannins in the future, pick some driftwood that has actually been found in a water system (i.e. been submerged for an extended period of time).

 

[Duddits]

I harvest my own dw from my local shores in Florida. The tannins or color from them will go away eventually. Just take the proper prep steps

 

[Bayo]

Thanks all for your insightful point of views. I actually starting to like this brownish color, looks nice a d it is different from what I was used to. My main concern was my fish health but since it seems it does not affect them, I'm happy!!

I love how my tank looks with DW.

 

[George9]

Thanks all for your insightful point of views. I actually starting to like this brownish color, looks nice a d it is different from what I was used to. My main concern was my fish health but since it seems it does not affect them, I'm happy!!

I love how my tank looks with DW.

Yup, the tannins won't hurt the fish at all. Some fish actually like it.

Tank looks great!

 

[Ftcgames]

If you don't really care that much about your water clarity, just leave it and eventually it will clear up through water changes. If you do care, get some water clarifier (I reccomend aqueon water clarifier, it does work.). Or you could put carbon in your filter if you do not already have some.