water discolouration

[youBeauti]

hi guys,
i have a problem with the colour of my water, it is constantly an off yellow colour. (just doesnt look clear) I have done all the tests including ph, anomia, nitrates, nitrites ect. The water according to all these tests is completely healthy, no problems at all.
I clean my tank once a week to fortnight like you are supposed to and this seems to have a little improvement for a few days but still not 100% as clear as i would like.
I have plants and a piece of drift wood in the tank, the fish that i have are two oscars and a few gouramis.
Does anybody have any advice as to why my water is never clear? If so please let me know!
Cheers heaps. *twirlysmi

 

[lauraf]

Sounds like the driftwood might be leaching tannins that are discolouring the water. It's harmless . . . .

 

[achase]

Did you presoak your driftwood before placing it in the tank? If not then I agree with Laura that it's probably tannins leaking from the driftwood. Which will lessen over time from water changes and your filter.

 

[youBeauti]

i bought it from the fish shop dissplay tank soo it had allready been in there tank for a while. But il see how it goes. Cheers for the info

 

[paperdog9]

Do you have carbon in your filter? That helps take away discoloration.

 

[nepolean77]

we got some blue tablets from pet shop to clear the fish tank water it certainly worked but a week later a fish was dead not sure if was tablet or fish just ready to go.
bit wary now but tank never looked cleaner.

 

[aakaakaak]

If it's a weak tea color then it's probably tannins from the wood. At a minimum you could try adding extra carbon in your filter, or you could take the wood out for a couple weeks.

 

[youBeauti]

Cheer's guys il have to put a new carbon cartridge on my filter and il see how i go.

 

[myunluckyfishies]

I had this same problem, only I had no driftwood, which can leak tannins for over 6 months if the wood is thick enough. Having that Carbon in there will help for sure, lightened mine a bit.
If after a few more weeks doing your water changes and having the carbon in there doesnt help really stir up and vacuum the gravel. That for some reason was my issue. Gravel that I have had for close to two years now was making my water yellow. As soon as I removed it the water cleaned right up. Up until that point I was able to do 50% water changes and it didnt even lighten the color!

 

[OrangeCones]

Cheer's guys il have to put a new carbon cartridge on my filter and il see how i go.

The carbon will need to be replaced every few days. Once it as adsorbed what it can from the water, it becomes inert. No problems just leaving it in, but the tannin removing ability will no longer be there after a few days.

 

[riseabovethesun]

Just sharing my two cents about the darn tannins, I'd agree that that is what it is. I too, bought my driftwood from a LFS and I soaked it in my tub with scalding hot water (would change the water as soon as it wasn't steaming, talk about sky high power bill) and did that for a few weeks. Gave up on it and put it in the tank and decided to embrace the tannins.

Hopefully you're driftwood is smaller and not as thick as mine, but mine probably weighs a good 20-30 pounds and would take ages to get rid of the tannins. And as OC has already stated the carbon can only be good until it absorbs a bit, then it's time for a change.

I'd either find some new wood if you can't stand it (which I would do but I spent too much money on mine) or just do a hair more frequent water changes, carbon changes and let it go. And as many have said around here the fish actually enjoy the tannins, it's nice and homey, like a river