Tannins and water color

[kizy]

Hi, I'm a true newbie to all of this fish tank stuff, but have always loved fish so I wanted to try to keep some. I was setting up my tank and letting it run for a while before getting any fish and I noticed the water turning a yellow-brown color. After a little while I figured out that it was the wood in the tank so I have since seperated the wood and am currently soaking it to try and remove as much tannin as possible....My question: is there a way that I can control the amount of tannin in the fish tank? Because I liked the natural backwater look of the tank when it was slightly stained, but in order for me to keep it at an acceptable level, I would have to do water changes every couple of days and then the color of the water would constantly be shifting. I would like to remove as much tannins as possible from the wood so it has little to no effect on the water and then artificially add tannins. Is there some kind of "tannins in a bottle" product that I can buy? Or any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Lotus]

Welcome to the site

There's really no way to control the rate (or how much) tannins that driftwood leaks. After a few days, weeks or months, your driftwood will stop making the water yellow. You could look into blackwater extract (an additive) for the long term. I think Seachem makes it.

 

[Moshi-Cat]

Are tannins bad to the fish at all?

 

[Lotus]

Tannins are fine for the fish. However, they usually lower the pH. While this isn't a bad thing, you may need to be careful with large water changes that could cause a large pH swing.

 

[Moshi-Cat]

Oh right. How did I forget that?

 

[PCFishGuy]

Hi, I'm a true newbie to all of this fish tank stuff, but have always loved fish so I wanted to try to keep some. I was setting up my tank and letting it run for a while before getting any fish and I noticed the water turning a yellow-brown color. After a little while I figured out that it was the wood in the tank so I have since seperated the wood and am currently soaking it to try and remove as much tannin as possible....My question: is there a way that I can control the amount of tannin in the fish tank? Because I liked the natural backwater look of the tank when it was slightly stained, but in order for me to keep it at an acceptable level, I would have to do water changes every couple of days and then the color of the water would constantly be shifting. I would like to remove as much tannins as possible from the wood so it has little to no effect on the water and then artificially add tannins. Is there some kind of "tannins in a bottle" product that I can buy? Or any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Activated Carbon or AC as is commonly refered to (preferably Bitumas coal based).
Will remove the tannins. Cycleing the "IN" times of AC will allow you to moderate the amount with no negative effect on the water column

 

[PteroisVolitan15B]

When I got my driftwood for my parrot tank it leaked bad even after soaking I used some filter media called Purigen cleared the water right up, once it turns brown you can recharge it with one part bleach and two parts water or something like that it will tell you on the label the exact mixture