Polys and tannins

[Experiment397]

Anyone else tried adding a little tint to their poly tanks? Picked up a bunch of new driftwood a while back and just let it do its thing to the water. Was doing it for the datnoids mainly but the polys seem to be loving it! Way more active and less skittish with the extra tint. Just thought I'd share in case anyone else had the driftwood bug like me

 

[FishNCash]

Yea they seem to love the tanic water.

 

[tlindsey]

Yes they prefer dim light anyway but most poly keepers like their aquarium lighting bright.

 

[magpie]

Makes sense to me that the dimmer light would make them more secure. I couldn't really add tannins via leaves etc as my water already is exceptionally soft and adding leaves etc drops my pH even lower (below 6!)

I love how tannins look though. And fish seem to love leaf litter, which I know you also do.

How long does the new wood leach tannins? Can you keep it up with leaves?

 

[tlindsey]

Makes sense to me that the dimmer light would make them more secure. I couldn't really add tannins via leaves etc as my water already is exceptionally soft and adding leaves etc drops my pH even lower (below 6!)

I love how tannins look though. And fish seem to love leaf litter, which I know you also do.

How long does the new wood leach tannins? Can you keep it up with leaves?

Driftwood would be more effective. Tbh never paid attention to the leaching time but wasn't very long in the change.

 

[magpie]

But you'll do water changes... so the DW tannins will go away eventually. So wouldn't you have to do leaves to maintain the tannins?

 

[tlindsey]

But you'll do water changes... so the DW tannins will go away eventually. So wouldn't you have to do leaves to maintain the tannins?

Even with wc's the Driftwood will still leach out tannins. I'm getting the impression you like the leaves over the wood. The leaves do help in helping as an anti bacterial aid from what I've read.

 

[magpie]

Well I like leaves, but it's just that I have driftwood in my tank and there are no longer any tannins at all. Or any notable ones. And the water has never looked stained. So I just wanted to know how I could maintain it over time without adding new wood every year.

 

[Rocksor]

Well I like leaves, but it's just that I have driftwood in my tank and there are no longer any tannins at all. Or any notable ones. And the water has never looked stained. So I just wanted to know how I could maintain it over time without adding new wood every year.

If you want to do the easy route, and don't mind spending the money, get Laguna Liquid Peat.

https://www.amazon.com/Laguna-Liqui...d=1506003659&sr=8-2&keywords=laguna+pond+peat

Or get a 3 gallon stock pot, a fine mesh bag, and boil peat pellets over medium heat until a rapid boil. Let the water cool and add to the tank. Keep using the peat for each boil, and the pellets should last for months. I find that making 6-8 gallons of peat was enough to tint my 240g tank.

 

[magpie]

Cool - thanks!