The Puffer Forum

OK, so I've posted about yellow water before and you informed me it was form tannins, which at first i though wasn't the issue but you all eventually convinced me otherwise. anyway i'm still a little confused about these little acids that are tinting my water. i've read that if you boil your wood for 30 minutes prior to putting it in the tank it should stop it from leaching tannins into the water, and this method worked with the one piece of wood i had in my 20 gallon, but no such luck with the 10. so my questions are what can i do to get my water crystal clear again, and if its just a waiting game how long do i have to wait? i really miss my crystal clear water. this would also be very helpful for my friend as he just set up two tanks and one of them has gotten so bad that the water is dark orange, and his plants are dying off becuase of it. thanks for the help everyone. i'll post some pics once i get my camera back.

Run some charcoal in your filter, it will clear the tannins right up. Boiled or not wood will still leach tannins for a long time, boiling only reduces the initial concentration. I once boiled a piece of mopani for several hours and it still leached tannins. I must've boiled and emptied at least 10 pan fulls of water.

+1

water changes, and time. If you boil it some more and possibly bake it (I have not baked) it reduces that wait time. Tannis is not harmful but unsightly (for some).

Another +1

Boiling works on some woods and not others, also, maximum depth/thickness and the density affect how well boiling or even soaking works. Anyone who says 30 minutes works across the board does not have enough experience with woods.

Water changes or activated carbon work well - the former is work and the latter is expensive, but if it bothers you, either will do the job quite well.

I have some wood that still puts out a little bit now well over two years later, and one piece I'm fond of that did for half a year or so, though now it seems fully tapped out.

Depending on what fish you have in the tank, if it makes you feel any better, that dark water can be beneficial to them. For example, they sell black water extract to make water that way for some species.

I don't care for tea colored water either, so I understand. I use carbon to keep my tank water clear. It does get better with time - a LLLLOOOOONGGG time

My big pieces of real bogwood all seem to fit in the more than a year category. It is a PITA in planted tanks.

If I ever want to set a pseudo-blackwater tank it would be a snap - just get a new chunk of hefty bogwood every few months and re-sell the oldest on-line as "cured" when it is time to get another. No brewing tea or collecting and boiling leaves.

While their is NO rule for what any given piece of wood will do, the closest thing to a guideline is that the denser and heavier the wood, the longer it will leech tannins for.

+1 to Nick's comment.