Does driftwood turns water in the tank green?
- Thread starter H]-[H
- Start date
![H]-[H](/forums/data/avatars/s/44/44128.jpg?1463640742){kind=avatar}
No. Not normal. Where did you get the driftwood? What color was the water you used to soak it in after soaking it? What kind of wood is it?
your tank should turn a yellow colour, if u have not soaked it long enough.
the yellow stuff is tannins being released by the wood.
your tank should not turn green not unless there is alot light hitting the tank from your light or sunlight.
the yellow stuff is tannins being released by the wood.
your tank should not turn green not unless there is alot light hitting the tank from your light or sunlight.
As others have suggested...
Driftwood will release tannic acid, often referred to simply as tannins, which turns the water a tea color. Different wood will release a different amount of tannins. Since these tannins are an acid, they will also lower the PH value of an aquarium.
Green water is typically caused by free floating algae. I would suspect that the driftwood had some algae in/on it and from there it began free floating and thriving. Natural sunlight is the biggest contributor to free floating algae thriving. Phosphates, as mentioned, are also a strong contributor.
Driftwood will release tannic acid, often referred to simply as tannins, which turns the water a tea color. Different wood will release a different amount of tannins. Since these tannins are an acid, they will also lower the PH value of an aquarium.
Green water is typically caused by free floating algae. I would suspect that the driftwood had some algae in/on it and from there it began free floating and thriving. Natural sunlight is the biggest contributor to free floating algae thriving. Phosphates, as mentioned, are also a strong contributor.
The wood will continue to leach tannins but over time it will decrease and eventually stop. Different pieces will do this at different paces so I don't think we could give you any expected time frames.
This does not create any additional waste and the impact to keep in mind is it can 'soften' your water. The primary effect of this softening is the PH will slowly creep down. If left too long without proper water changes this can cause a PH crash.
In tanks with lot od driftwood or a piece that leaches a lot of tannins I avoid larger water changes and try to do smaller ones more often. This is done to reduce PH swings.
This does not create any additional waste and the impact to keep in mind is it can 'soften' your water. The primary effect of this softening is the PH will slowly creep down. If left too long without proper water changes this can cause a PH crash.
In tanks with lot od driftwood or a piece that leaches a lot of tannins I avoid larger water changes and try to do smaller ones more often. This is done to reduce PH swings.
I haven't seen your driftwood and have no clue if it leaches "a lot" of tannins or not... and honestly I have no real guage on what "a lot" is...
So to put it into some kind of words without pictures...
if your water has a very slight tea color to it... You should be safe to do 50% water changes, but I wouldn't do much more than that...
if your water has anything more than a slight tea color then I would do water changes smaller than 50%... the darker it is the smaller the water changes...
Also the 'normal' PH of your tank will make a difference... if your PH is usually 8.5 then the acidic tannins will have more effect than if your PH is usually 6.0... The PH in my tanks stays around 6.0 so tannins have never been more than a mild concern for me and I cannot speack from experience about how it effects high PH ranges...
So to put it into some kind of words without pictures...
if your water has a very slight tea color to it... You should be safe to do 50% water changes, but I wouldn't do much more than that...
if your water has anything more than a slight tea color then I would do water changes smaller than 50%... the darker it is the smaller the water changes...
Also the 'normal' PH of your tank will make a difference... if your PH is usually 8.5 then the acidic tannins will have more effect than if your PH is usually 6.0... The PH in my tanks stays around 6.0 so tannins have never been more than a mild concern for me and I cannot speack from experience about how it effects high PH ranges...