i have a 55g tank for 2 months now and i just put a peice of drift wood in it the guy who had the tank said it was in his tank for 5-6 years and just took it out before i bought it. i put it in 10 days good and i just walked in the room and my tank is dark dark orange. did a water change and color didnt change. is their a way to help get the color clear again or is it just time and water changes.
my tank is dark orange
- Thread starter nes999
- Start date
Had the same ordeal happen to me. You either remove the drift wood and boil it or wait it out. It took my softball size drift wood about a month to stop "bleeding" out. The stuff(tannins) that "bleed" out are not harmful to fish in fact, correct if I'm wrong fellow MFKer's, it's actually helpful to em.
Using carbon will help alot to but your gonna have to change it every few day because it doesn't last long. Also make sure that if you do decide to use carbon once your done using it take it out because over time when its no good anymore it will start to release it back in the water or so I heard.
chances are, the driftwood was only leeching tannins. while unsightly to some, depending on what kind of fish are in the tank, it may have actually been beneficial to them to have the lower PH and tannins in the water.
what kind of fish are in the tank?
what kind of fish are in the tank?
IMO - the tannins leaching out is actually good for the fish, but they can "o.d." on it (so I have been told, I have NO CLUE why/how) - like 3 years ago I had too much wood in a 10g tank and the fish in it died - I was told from the LFS it was because there was too much tannins leaking out and not enough water for it to "mix in" with (I wasn't doing water changes enough, I guess once a week wasn't enough since there was soooo much tannins) - I dont know if thats really why the fish died, but there wasnt anything wrong w/ the water perimeters and the fish wasnt sick...
What I do now: New driftwood gets tossed in the bathtub in the spare bathroom (or a bucket/rubber maid if you dont have a spare bathroom) and let it soak for a day, drain water, refill tub - rinse and repeat until the water isnt so orange - then boil and put it in the tank - works pretty well for me
What I do now: New driftwood gets tossed in the bathtub in the spare bathroom (or a bucket/rubber maid if you dont have a spare bathroom) and let it soak for a day, drain water, refill tub - rinse and repeat until the water isnt so orange - then boil and put it in the tank - works pretty well for me
I LOVE tannins and the leaching is my favorite part of new wood. (I ditch mine when they stop leaching). Your barbs and convicts might actually appreciate it as they prefer lower PH (unless you have very low PH to begin with but still can't hurt).
IMO nothing beats a dark colored, tannin stained tank with bright lights and sand. Why not just let it run it's course?
IMO nothing beats a dark colored, tannin stained tank with bright lights and sand. Why not just let it run it's course?