Tannin stained water

[FishyFriends]

Hi,

We have a new 6x2x2 tank cycling, we have 4 pieces of driftwood in there and after the first week the water has stopped being cloudy and is a terrible stain of brown, we have done a water change 100l taken out, and decided on removing the timber at this stage, there is already quie a bit of mess from the timber, how long does it take for the tannin colour to come out of the tank, we would love to have the timber in there as they look great in there

oh we have had these pieces of timber soaking till there is no more colour leaking out and have had then in a friends tank to see whether they would leak any tannin and they didn't.

We asked about magic clear at LFS and they said that it wont work in rainwater unless you use conditioning salts, as the water is too soft, we haven't tried to see what happens.

We set up the tank with only rainwater no other chemicals and have used existing bio filteration from another filter, it is cycling at 26.5 and we have tested the water and it has come back all ok, normal levels.

Would you use magic clear anyway in tank? We do have two goldfish in there atm (the boys pets :biggrin:), and they are happy as can be.

Thanks any tips would be great.

[Woodsy]

Every precipitating agent I have used will not work at a GH of less than 100ppm, and will just make the water cloudy, so I wouldn't use it if I was you. Besides, it's not the way to fix tannin-stained water anyway. There are 3 options that I have found to work every time:
Carbon (which may need to be replaced after 2 weeks)
Bichemzorb pads (which will work for about 3 months depending on the degree of staining)
Purigen (unparalleled degree of polishing ability, and can be recharged)

Tannins can continue to stain your water for a very long time, depending on the species of wood used. Mallee, in particular, continues to stain for ages. Mangrove, depending on age can stop after about 2-3 months. And eucalyptus will stain for about 6 weeks, but after which tends to degrade rapidly and produce ammonia.
Go with the Purigen ;)

[FishyFriends]

Thanks woodsy, shall look into purigen, we have removed all timber for the moment, we do have some new carbon sitting there as well so might give that a go as well.


It does look slightly better with the water change today, even though it was only a minimal amount out of such a large tank.


Shall let you know how it goes

[joz]

If possible can you soak the wood else where and keep changing that water.
But I have always just left the tannin go in the tank and after a pereiod it does stop leaching.
Most fish are probably better off with some tannins in the water ,so the only real issue is that the tank looks a bit brown..

[FishyFriends]

Hi we ended up purchasing a product that you put in your filter called bio-chem zorb the tannin was gone within 3 hours, amazing stuff, apparently it doesn't effect ph or anythiing else, thanks for all your suggestions too

Oh we did use carbon for 4 days and it was working, very slowly but all the same working

[wombat1100]

OK now you have found your cure, lets hear if anyone else has used it? any problems with it etc.
Do you leave this product in your filter permanently? coz the tannins are going to continue to leach out of the timber.
does it have to be "recharged " or cleaned in any way?

[Woodsy]

I use it on a regular basis. As with all filter resins, it needs to be removed when medicating. Apparently it can be recharged by soaking in a saline solution. I have only heard one report of it affecting the breeding behaviour of African Cichlids.

[cichlidboy]

I love tannin.
I think it gives a very "natural" look.
I've never heard of Eucapyltus being used as driftwood though.
I've always gotten mangrove roots. (they look great)