ok. i'v seen many tanks with driftwood. some are crystal clear, and some have the orange brown tint to it. i really want to go all natural plants and wood, but dont want discolored water. any insight would be great!!!
clear water with driftwood????????
- Thread starter Cellitti
- Start date
Boiling the driftwood to try and remove as much tannin as possible helps.
Regular water changes help.
Chemical removal of the the tannins using such products as purigen, bio chemzorb etc, helps
Diatom filtration helps.
All depends on how much time and effort you want to put into removing the tannins.
If you boil the wood it will remove alot of the tannins as said above, regular water changes and time will take care of the discolored water. Buying "used" wood that has been in someones tank for a long time can sometimes by pass this process, but you want to make sure its coming from a healthy tank so there is less chance of importing parasites and such if you go this route.
Also depending on what fish you are keeping, the tannins and discolored water is very natural and healthy for certain fish that come from that environment.
Also depending on what fish you are keeping, the tannins and discolored water is very natural and healthy for certain fish that come from that environment.
agreed with the above, i think an "all natural" tank would look good with a little stain to it..but thats up to u.
what type of wood? manzanita leaches less tannins than most other types. I have a ton of it in my tank. I would love to have the brown tinted water but my water is clear. never ran carbon or anything else. tannins were gone after a month.
The wood is to large for me to think about boiling. They are swamp cypress and African hardwood. I don't mind minimal discoloration but don't want it over powering. The plants I'm starting with is a dwarf grass. (First time with live plants) and want to start off easy and one variety at a time. I am housing in a 220 gal.
1- tig
3- dats
1- jardini aro
1- leo ray
1- flagtail
Any thoughts on other plants to introduce that are hardy and low maintenance? Thanks so far for the input!! Keep it coming
1- tig
3- dats
1- jardini aro
1- leo ray
1- flagtail
Any thoughts on other plants to introduce that are hardy and low maintenance? Thanks so far for the input!! Keep it coming
I'm not sure what a UV light would do to remove tannins or keep water from discoloring. It would definitely keep (or at least help in preventing) algae blooms, but not sure it would help prevent driftwood from discoloring the water.