I've made ALL the mistakes!

[huma-huma]

id give it a few days just to see how it settles, oh and btw, absolutely gorgeous tank. You have a truely beautiful and healthy 55g tank

 

[Territoons]

Largely due to YOUR help, Huma! Thank you!

 

[huma-huma]

Largely due to YOUR help, Huma! Thank you!

Just glad to help out everyone should be able to experienc this amazing hobby

 

[Territoons]

Ahhhhhh! My beautiful manzanita is STILL leaking tanin, apparently, because it is still turning the water tea-colored. I have to do a water change almost every day....

 

[Coursair]

It won't hurt the fish. It just darkens the water.

 

[Territoons]

yes. so I have noticed..but I hate that it darkens the water! What is the point of a fish tank if it is not beautiful? I am hoping that after time it will stop darkening the water? It's been 3 weeks or so...

 

[huma-huma]

Did you try boiling it?

 

[Territoons]

My AQUARIUM? I really don't think the fish would like that!

 

[Territoons]

Nah...the piece of wood is just under 4 feet long

 

[huma-huma]

Welll that explains the not boiling part, perhaps a deep kettle pot and boil a half at a time

 

[Territoons]

I don't have anything even close to big enough. and I have two giant pieces of manzanita in there. I am just hoping that if I keep changing the water, over and over again, that it will eventually stop "leaking" so much tannin. It does seem to be a little better, but it still sucks. It will just be a matter of patience. I will either lose it or keep it..the patience. If I lose patience I will rip all of the wood out and completely re-do my fish tank with stone and sand and live plants. The thought has been floating around in my mind! But I am still hoping the manzanita works out, because I really like the layout of the tank, and all of the little caves and borrows I have created. I love watching the fish and the shrimp and the snails exploring all the different areas and levels of the tank. It truly is a great source of enjoyment.

My PWC system dumps my fish water out onto the front lawn, and boy is that lawn turning green with all the water changes!

 

[Territoons]

oh ya..and getting the wood OUT is going to be a major thing, because I have it wedged in and weighted down with boulders, because it wanted to float really bad when I put it in. If I take them out, I don't think I'll be putting them back in....

 

[Deckape]

Mine is the same way, too big to boil and I also have mine shoehorned in there. I am doing PWCs twice a week maybe 3 times for tannin reduction. I may break down and run carbon for a while and see what happens. But I would rather deal with the tannins than get rid of the wood. Your tank is beautiful the way it is now...

 

[eco23]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned...but I've heard of people having great success running the DW through the dishwasher a couple times...without detergent obviously. In fact, I'd probably run it empty first to clear any residual soap out of the lines. This is of course assuming the DW will fit in your dishwasher.

 

[huma-huma]

unfortunately eco, her driftwood is 4 ft long, it wont fit in the dishwasher

 

[eco23]

unfortunately eco, her driftwood is 4 ft long, it wont fit in the dishwasher

Yeah, I was speaking in general because there are a few people on this thread dealing with the same issue. I guess you could turn the giant DW into a few smaller pieces of DW? Haha, JK

 

[alex07]

You don't like the tea color water? I think it makes it look more natural

 

[Territoons]

ha ha..no I don't like the tea color. I will just keep doing my super frequent PWC's. thanks for the compliment, Deckape! and I like the dishwasher idea! Too bad my piece is so huge. If I get too frustrated, maybe I will saw it in half.

 

[alex07]

ha ha..no I don't like the tea color. I will just keep doing my super frequent PWC's. thanks for the compliment, Deckape! and I like the dishwasher idea! Too bad my piece is so huge. If I get too frustrated, maybe I will saw it in half.

The wood is going to be leaking tannins for a long time, specially for that size of wood. So you might as well just get used to it, yes the more pwc you do the clearer the water is going to be and there is going time you might think is all gone but unfortunately it's still going to be there. You will only notice if you put some water in a cup or bag. Btw nice piece of wood you have there.

 

[Deckape]

Yeah, I was speaking in general because there are a few people on this thread dealing with the same issue. I guess you could turn the giant DW into a few smaller pieces of DW? Haha, JK

I don't mind it really. PWCs are no big deal either. Life is about compromise.