To tannin or not to tannin.

[evojoey]

I went with the tannins. While I was picking up my 180 at the LFS I bought some peat pellets. Supposed to leach into my water slowly. We'll see how it goes.

 

[JK47]

Don't be afraid to hijack. I'd like to see pics to persuade me.

I can't get a clean pic because of the window behind the tank but you get the idea. This pic was after a 25% WC on Friday, another Sunday so it's lightened up a bit in this pic. I use black backgrounds on all my SA tanks with lots of wood/anubias/java moss. Like I said, you and I are using the same quickcrete white media sand.

Tip for you, go buy up all the smaller pieces of mopani wood at your LFS for cheap (mine holds onto the loose chunks for me that are in the bottom of the big bags of wood they buy). It's great for leaching tannins and gives a really good golden color not brown. Instead of putting them in the tank cut the wood into littles slices and toss it in your sump in media bags.

 

[Sarah88]

yeah i just use big pieces of driftwood in my tank, my pH out the tap is like 7 so i dont have pH problems but i like the looks of the lightly stained tank, however my wood right now is still leaching really badly and makes my tank almost red and i dont like that too much as i cant see as well into the covered areas my wood is over hanging but my fish seem to like it, they show great colors in the darker water and seem to be more confident

 

[evojoey]

I can't get a clean pic because of the window behind the tank but you get the idea. This pic was after a 25% WC on Friday, another Sunday so it's lightened up a bit in this pic. I use black backgrounds on all my SA tanks with lots of wood/anubias/java moss. Like I said, you and I are using the same quickcrete white media sand.

Tip for you, go buy up all the smaller pieces of mopani wood at your LFS for cheap (mine holds onto the loose chunks for me that are in the bottom of the big bags of wood they buy). It's great for leaching tannins and gives a really good golden color not brown. Instead of putting them in the tank cut the wood into littles slices and toss it in your sump in media bags.

Thanks for the pic Justin. I like the look. Can't wait to see what my tank looks like when it's nice and stained. I'm gonna do the mopani wood thing. My lfs has a whole bin full of small mopani pieces. Thanks for the tip.

yeah i just use big pieces of driftwood in my tank, my pH out the tap is like 7 so i dont have pH problems but i like the looks of the lightly stained tank, however my wood right now is still leaching really badly and makes my tank almost red and i dont like that too much as i cant see as well into the covered areas my wood is over hanging but my fish seem to like it, they show great colors in the darker water and seem to be more confident

Thanks for the info. I'm hoping my fish become a little more confident and interactive in the stained water.