Water like tea

[thermofish]

Well the new forum looks good....but to the point

My mangrove roots and various bits of wood had been well soaked for weeks and had then been used in a couple of tanks for a few months and were no longer leaching colour.

Now after being in my 4x2x2 for a while they have started to leach tannins again and have turned my water into tea.

Do i just have to put up with this, keep doing regular water changes be patient and wait till its all removed or is there some super dooper fragalistic fantastic magic secret to removing tannins from my water ???

oh, ive got Americans, so its hard enought keeping the water clean as it is.

Im running a eheim 2217 and a wee little AC200 hang on just cause it was sitting around doing nothing.

cheers.

[Exiledonmainstreet]

I would remove the wood, boil it thoroughly, let it dry outside for a couple of days, and try it again in the tank. :^:

[23Skidoo]

It's not gunna do anything to your fish 'cept make the water like that. I got a nice light tea colour in one of my tanks. But the fish are happy so i leave it. I do slightl;yy bigger water changes though.

[E4G13M4N]

As you do your water changes it will slowly disapear again ..

Or you could boil the wood a bit more to speed it up ..

Also a product Chemsorb by hagen will remove tannins if you dont like the look of the tea colour .. Bit pricey IMO but works but then the fish should show better colour in the more natural conditions ..

[thermofish]

i might just leave it and do bigger water changes.

thanks peoples !!!

[anchar]

Hi, If the wood is small enough to boil up on the stove, add a heap of salt to the water. I found that it helps draw the tannin out quicker.

merjo

[thermofish]

Cool, i might boil up some of the smaller bits. I'll try using a heap of salt too.

Cheers.

[trofius]

Hi

just accept the tannins, water changes will keep it paler but wont remove them , tannins will make the water more acid though so not real good for rift lake fishes. i have had a 3.5 foot hollow log in my 4 foot tank for 3 years and it still leaches heaps of tannins, plants and fish dont seem to mind, prob because it is natural..

[BLACKBAR]

what about using purigen?

[Other Ed]

Hi, I have used Purigen and found it to be good at removing the tea colour from tank water. There was alos a product called chemzorb or something and it was great too. If you ust the purigen, just get the small bag. Its ready to go just pop it in your filter.

HTH

Ed.

[DanceswithDingoes]

Good old carbon will remove the tannins, just remember to replace it monthly :rolleyes:

[Limno]

water treatment people use activated carbon to remove the tannin - but the carbon get 'spent' fairly quickly and nees to be replaced often - it can be expesive. Frequent water changes will help dilute the colour over time

[Limno]

The other thing that you could try is zeolite in you filter medium. It will clear the water

[taybelZ]

I quite like the tannish look to be honest... looks more natural.

[Rolla]

I was going to recomend Purigen aswell, i have heard nothing but good things about it and you never have to replace it....

[BLACKBAR]

just thought i'd mention this i put a good sized log in my 6x18x18 it was the lengh of the tank took forever to get in lucky it wasnt to thick only about 4-5 inch it made my tank orange it has been for abot two months now the colour just would not go away even after taking out the wood tank just stayed the same even after god knows how many water changes last week i got a smal bag of purigen put it in my overflow and in 24 hours my tank was crystal no more orange water at all and best of al i can recharge purigen

[fishly]

Where do you guys get purigen? how much does it cost? does it actually just clear the water or REMOVE the tannin? did you prove it if the tannin actually disappeared (not just looking at the water colour)?

[OziOscar]

Last time I had that problem I used a bucket load of cheap coconut carbon (yes - I know - wrong type) and it worked reasonably well but it has a very short life and needs to be removed quickly (three to five days) else one's parameters can go out.

Seriously? If the fish are happy enough and you don't mind the look (matter of taste) then let it take its course and just increase the frequency of your water changes.

Cheers - OziOscar.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

on the old forum wasnt their a thing about hydrogen peroxide? which bleached the tannins i used it and its works a treat didnt affect my cod. and old a little tannin leached into my tank.

[Other Ed]

Hi,

You can get Purigen at the LFS some have it and some dont. I think it says on the pack how it works and what it is made of. If I remember right it is like carbon only its man made and it can be "re-charged"

HTH

Ed.

[fishly]

Thanks guys. I just got 250gr of purigen and the bag from strickly aquarium. Hopefully it helps. :D

[BLACKBAR]

it will theres also aother thing its a liquid called clarity by seachem works wonders too

[thermofish]

Maybe this should be in the FAQ's.

thanks for all the help.

cheers.

.t.

[fishly]

Hi all,

Do you know why the color of the water still brown after having more than 48 hours of purigen in the filter? could it be because of under filtered? by the way it is 5ft tank (330lt) and I am using Resun canister 1500lt/hr.

Regards,

Fishly

[OziOscar]

Go for a large water change (up to 50% if you can manage it) and a hefty amount of carbon in one of your filters... should be nice in a week or so. Change the carbon after a few days and you would be on track, IME.

Cheers - OziOscar.