Need help with tannin removal.

[CHOMPERS]

Here's the crushed coral setup. Both are DIY reactors. The coral is in the pvc reactor. It is 4" x 14", and the smaller is 2" dia. if I recall correctly. I will post the results for this system when the ammonia test kit arrives.

Btw, after a large water change, the water is turbid cloudy. It takes about three days for it to clear up. Small water changes usually don't affect it.
I changed out the sump around a month ago, so the tank got a 100% water change.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Here's earlier pictures of the sump and water. There appears to be an improvement due to the plants possibly (watercress).

 

[duanes]

Using raw lake water (going beyond the pollution factor) I would worry about introducing viruses (such as VHS), bacteria (such as Columnaris) and protozoal parasites (such as sub adult Lernea.......
(That's an adult in the pic)
especially drawn to Cyprinids.

Some are in the mn size as juvies, and easily glide thru most filtration.
Just measuring the nitrate concentration of raw lake water, should give you an indication of fertilizer run-off.
I test water in unpolluted rivers here in Panama and have yet to find detectable nitrate in unpolluted water.


With a drip system, a sodium thiosulfate drip from a dosing pump to control chloramines could be used.

When I had chloramines in my tap water (because I always add new water to the sump first) I never worried about the ammonia part because beneficial bacteria in the sump sucked it up,
And organic matter in the sump usually ate up a significant portion of the chlorine too, although, as a precaution, I always added a bloop of Sodium-thio (Safe).

 

[neutrino]

I collect my own driftwood/bogwood, etc. I like some tannins but sometimes a piece releases a lot of dirty looking tannins for the first few months. Carbon in my filters has always worked for me, I adjust the amount according to what I'm dealing with and the color and clarity I'm trying to achieve. Naturally, it will gradually exhaust after some weeks, so if I was doing what you're doing I'd start with fresh. Some carbon works better than others at tannins and ime it's not always about using an expensive brand, Seachem has worked well for me but so has Aquatech from Walmart. While I've never bothered with them, Purigen and Chemipure Green are also supposed to remove tannins.

 

[jjohnwm]

...you can get an idea of my former fish madness. At one point I had 24 tanks running...

I dunno...that doesn't sound too crazy...

...and the swimming pool was converted into a koi pond.

...oh...okay...

That's interesting about the chlorine bleach de-colouring Florida water in a swimming pool. That colour must be from something other than tannins?

The water in those test jugs isn't all that stained; virtually nothing compared to duanes tanks or even my outdoor pond. It sounds as though correcting that will be such a monumental PITA that it might be just worth getting used to it.

 

[duanes]

I dunno...that doesn't sound too crazy...



...oh...okay...

That colour must be from something other than tannins?
The water in those test jugs isn't all that stained; virtually nothing compared to duanes tanks or even my outdoor pond. It sounds as though correcting that will be such a monumental PITA that it might be just worth getting used to it.

You call those Tannins?
Now these are Tannins

 

[Cal Amari]

Purigen works well at soaking up tannins, i usually keep a bag in my canister because of some driftwood in my tank, but it's a steady leech and absorb that needs replaced a couple times a year. for the volume and frequency your talking about it could be expensive.

 

[CHOMPERS]

...Just measuring the nitrate concentration of raw lake water, should give you an indication of fertilizer run-off...

Good thinking! It turns out that the lake is clean ,but my tank is polluted. I have a lot of work to do. The ammonium/ammonia was at zero so I ran the reactors through the night. I suspect that the crushed coral contributed to the nitrate concentration but most of it must have been from the tanks gravel. I apparently did a poor job cleaning the gravel during the sump swap.

 

[CHOMPERS]

I just completed a 50% water change on that tank (I didn't vacuum the gravel). I'll be retesting the nitrates after it mixes thoroughly. The schmutts in the gravel got stirred up during the refilling, so the new test should indicate where the problem is. I'll post updates shortly.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Well spank my arse and call me Sally. Guess who has the filthiest gravel on this side of the internet.
The water change was actually quite a bit more than 50%, and my math says that there should have been a difference in the testing. The only thing I can imagine is an unrealistic concentration in the gravel. Hmmmm, I need to test the effluent of the reactors. The crushed coral is used (SW).
I retested the source water to double check but it is still zero.