Hey guys, I recently set up a tank to be a paludarium but after acquiring fish, I decided to turn it to be a full 55g aquarium. I had driftwood in it and it started to let out alit of tannins so I took them out and did three large water changes with added carbon. Water was still yellow but all levels were good so I added more fish hoping the water was turn clear eventually. I trIed Accuclear..nothing, I tried crystal clear following week...nothing. I haven't added the driftwood back because im still boiling it daily and i've run out if ideas since the water levels are good. Could it be any soil trapped in the gravel? PLEASE HELP!
TANK STATS:
3 live plants that get Api leaf zone
FISH:
4 Ghost shrimp
4 Red Mickey Mouse Platy
2 Zebra Family
2 Leopard Dani
1 Pleco
1 Black Mystery Snail
1 Gold Mystery Snail
2 Cherry Barbs
1 Redwag Swordtail
1 Pineapple Swordtail
1 Lemon Tetra
3 Penguin Tetra
1 Tiger barb
1 Albino tiger barb
1 Green tiger barb
1 Kuhli coach
1 Yoyo coach
1 Clown loach
1 Iridescent Shark (Small)
PH- 7.0
AMMONIA -0
NITRITE-0
NITRATE-alittle less than .5
ALSO IF ANYONE HAS ANY SUGGESTIONS ON ADDITIONAL FISH..
YELLOW WATER HELP!
6 posts
-
natalie265 - Site Admin
- Posts: 746
- Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:48 pm
Re: YELLOW WATER HELP!
Sometimes tannins can get trapped in the filter media. You might try rinsing yours out and see if that helps (remember to use old aquarim water, or dechlorinated tap water).
Personally, i like the look of tannin stained water. It has a natural, moody look that i find appealing. Many aquarium fish come from waters with lots of tannins and the tannins are said to be beneficial.
Personally, i like the look of tannin stained water. It has a natural, moody look that i find appealing. Many aquarium fish come from waters with lots of tannins and the tannins are said to be beneficial.
-
Okiimiru - Posts: 275
- Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm
Re: YELLOW WATER HELP!
Activated carbon doesn't change color or do a little dance when it's all used up. Try putting a new pouch of activated carbon in your filter. It'll most likely clear up your water.
Seachem makes a product called Purigen that is like activated carbon except that it changes color to let you know when it's full. Then you can refresh it and use it again. It's too expensive for me to consider buying but it makes a good point; sometimes your activated carbon is exhausted and you don't know it. Putting a new pouch in the filter may be just what you need to remove the tannins.
By the way keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite. It's suspicious that nitrate is so low. Also that your nitrate test reads in 0.5 units. A healthy tank usually have nitrate like 15-30 ppm, although it depends on the fish species kept (discus are less tolerant than for example bluegills). The lowest increment any nitrate test I've ever owned has read is 0-10 ppm. Most read 0-20 ppm as their lowest increment. A 0.5 value would not have been possible. Are you sure you're reading your test kit properly? Which test kit do you own?
Seachem makes a product called Purigen that is like activated carbon except that it changes color to let you know when it's full. Then you can refresh it and use it again. It's too expensive for me to consider buying but it makes a good point; sometimes your activated carbon is exhausted and you don't know it. Putting a new pouch in the filter may be just what you need to remove the tannins.
By the way keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite. It's suspicious that nitrate is so low. Also that your nitrate test reads in 0.5 units. A healthy tank usually have nitrate like 15-30 ppm, although it depends on the fish species kept (discus are less tolerant than for example bluegills). The lowest increment any nitrate test I've ever owned has read is 0-10 ppm. Most read 0-20 ppm as their lowest increment. A 0.5 value would not have been possible. Are you sure you're reading your test kit properly? Which test kit do you own?
-
anubia052 - Posts: 1
- Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2013 6:16 am
Re: YELLOW WATER HELP!
On the fish side of your question it looks like you about a capacity already, find a fish capacity calculator online to see what it is for 55 gallon
-
andrecarneiro - Posts: 32
- Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2013 4:49 pm
Re: YELLOW WATER HELP!
"I haven't added the driftwood back because im still boiling it daily."
Boiling that drift wood isnt gonna do anything but raise your electricty bill... when it comes to drift wood temperature has nothing to do with it ..... its all about the volume of water .... a neat trick i learnt from from the LFS owner was placing them into a pond for about a week ... you can boil it after that just to make sure its clean and presto...no more yellow water issues.
Boiling that drift wood isnt gonna do anything but raise your electricty bill... when it comes to drift wood temperature has nothing to do with it ..... its all about the volume of water .... a neat trick i learnt from from the LFS owner was placing them into a pond for about a week ... you can boil it after that just to make sure its clean and presto...no more yellow water issues.
-
Alasse - Posts: 993
- Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:35 am
- Location: QLD Australia
Re: YELLOW WATER HELP!
Boiling certainly will speed it up. What the boiling does it opens the fibres on the wood getting the deeper tannins out. If you add a bit of salt to that it can speed it up a bit more.
Some wood types are really tannin heavy, those take quite a while, even with boiling, for the tannins to fully release. Other wood types release little if any.
Depends what wood you have and the density of the actual piece.
Activated charcoal is the best at removing tannin staining from water. Not a fan of Purigen at all, I have tried it and it did next to nothing to remove the tannins
Can I add RE: tank stocking
Zebra/Leopard danios - they are a schooling fish so adding another 2 would be great
Cherry barbs are a school fish, and should be schools of 5-6 at least
Tetras are schooling fish and require schools of 5-6 of each type
Tiger barbs require to be in schools, keeping them in under 6 fish, at some stage will turn them into fin nippers.
Yoyos- these are social creatures and you really need to have 5-6 of them for them to be properly happy
Clown loaches - also a VERY social fish, require a school of 5-6.
Both of the loach type can become a problem when older if they don't have their own species to interact with.
The above stocking needs to be fixed, obviously adding to the current fish to get the correct number will majorly overstock your tank. You really need to choose a few species of the schooling types and rehome others.
It truly is not fair on schooling type fish to keep them as a single or in just pairs
Some wood types are really tannin heavy, those take quite a while, even with boiling, for the tannins to fully release. Other wood types release little if any.
Depends what wood you have and the density of the actual piece.
Activated charcoal is the best at removing tannin staining from water. Not a fan of Purigen at all, I have tried it and it did next to nothing to remove the tannins
Can I add RE: tank stocking
Zebra/Leopard danios - they are a schooling fish so adding another 2 would be great
Cherry barbs are a school fish, and should be schools of 5-6 at least
Tetras are schooling fish and require schools of 5-6 of each type
Tiger barbs require to be in schools, keeping them in under 6 fish, at some stage will turn them into fin nippers.
Yoyos- these are social creatures and you really need to have 5-6 of them for them to be properly happy
Clown loaches - also a VERY social fish, require a school of 5-6.
Both of the loach type can become a problem when older if they don't have their own species to interact with.
The above stocking needs to be fixed, obviously adding to the current fish to get the correct number will majorly overstock your tank. You really need to choose a few species of the schooling types and rehome others.
It truly is not fair on schooling type fish to keep them as a single or in just pairs