Fastest way to remove tannins
- Thread starter Rtc/tsn
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Tannins are fine for almost all fish.
It’s water change day and putting the wood in stirred the water a lot so it’s a bit messy but here it is I will be buying more plants and wood 
I added the wood yesterday and the waters a bit dark from the tannins and I’m loving it. The bumblebee cats are active with the lights on so I can see them a lot more. Also one of my bb cats might have ate another smaller one. 
My tanks are outside on a patio, and surrounded by terrestrial vegetation, Seasonally...they become inundated with tannins for a few weeks, at the end of the dry seaso. That's when the first rains of the season wash tannins in from bark the dry vegetation, just like natural waters. Leaf litter also falls into the tank.
As you can see, for a time, the water gets "tea colored" from those tannins, but with a normal water change schedule, and as the tannins break down, they dissipate.
above with tannins, below normal
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I understand the benefits of tannin...but I admit that I can't stand looking at stained water. I use leaf litter in some tanks, and collect my own driftwood, so it's an ongoing compromise.
The "fastest" way to get rid of tannins? Just don't add wood, leaves or other sources of the stuff! Carbon works to remove it if you simply must have it gone immediately...
But the "best" way is, IMHO, a normal regimen of large, frequent water changes. Tannins, nitrate, hormones...water changes remove them all.
I have exactly one piece of "purchased" driftwood, a nice chunk of Mopani that I received as a gift. It's been in my Musk Turtle's tank for several years now. That tank gets a 100% water change at least weekly, so the wood has been in something like 150+ complete changes of water and still leaches tannins to a visible extent. My wife, who dotes on the turtle, complains so much about the "pee" in the water that she will do water changes on that tank for me (which involve simply opening and closing valves). That, to me...is the best thing about tannins!
The "fastest" way to get rid of tannins? Just don't add wood, leaves or other sources of the stuff! Carbon works to remove it if you simply must have it gone immediately...
But the "best" way is, IMHO, a normal regimen of large, frequent water changes. Tannins, nitrate, hormones...water changes remove them all.
I have exactly one piece of "purchased" driftwood, a nice chunk of Mopani that I received as a gift. It's been in my Musk Turtle's tank for several years now. That tank gets a 100% water change at least weekly, so the wood has been in something like 150+ complete changes of water and still leaches tannins to a visible extent. My wife, who dotes on the turtle, complains so much about the "pee" in the water that she will do water changes on that tank for me (which involve simply opening and closing valves). That, to me...is the best thing about tannins!
Tannin is one of the toxic substances harmful to fish. So you should know how to remove tannins from aquarium water: Activated charcoal can be used. It helps to remove the yellowish to brownish color in the aquarium and restore the pH level of the water. Alternatively, Seachem products such as Purigen and Renew can be used to counteract the discolouration effects of tannins.
Well...anything is toxic in sufficient quantities or concentrations. It is possible to die from drinking too much water. That said, I can't imagine a set of circumstances that would result in a toxic concentration of tannins in an aquarium.
The benefits of tannin in aquarium water have been extolled for years. I'm curious where you obtained information that prompted this startlingly opposing viewpoint.
