Questions for fish keepers

[Olimpia]

I have been trying for the past several weeks to add pieces of wood to my aquariums without success. I wash and wash but after a few days in the water it tints the water reddish or brownish. At first I didn't notice anything but after coming back home from thanksgiving I saw that my tank water was reddish!

I can't say exactly what kind of wood it is, but I got it from a reptile show. One piece is grape wood but the other two are spider wood, I think. How can I make certain they'll stop tinting the water? Or what wood can I get that won't?

Also, I was sold some Crystal Clear that I was told would help clear any little particles clouding my water. However I could not get a very detailed explanation of how to use it - I assume the fish should not be in the aquarium when I use it, correct? Does it do anything or is it a money-making lie? lol Not that this replaces partial water changes to help keep things clean, I understand that.

Thanks!

 

[bugboy]

maybe malaysian driftwood? that usually turns the water yellow. well whatever type of wood it is, its supposed to be soaked for a few days BEFORE putting into the tank. use a 5gal bucket or something similar and keep the wood in there for a few days. you want to replace the water in the bucket when it gets murky, and continue to do so until the water stays clear. as for the tank itself, maybe do a 30% water change unless your last change was recent. that'll help get some of the crud out of your tank. what type of filter do you have running? if it runs carbon try switching it out unless its new. hope this helps, let me know if I forgot anything.

 

[bugboy]

I DID FORGET SOMETHING!!! haha

never heard of Crystal Clear but if its anything like any other water clarifier on the market it should be fine to use with fish HOWEVER, I usually find its better to try and solve the problem without chemicals first, and should only use them when absolutely necessary. I say this because I've seen a lot of cases where people keep adding stuff to their tanks thinking they're doing something right until they've added so much the water isn't water anymore. it sounds like your pointed in the right direction on that though.

 

[CLK]

Agreed

I agree with bugboy about soaking the wood for several days, rinsing will not do the trick. You need to be careful, though, because real wood can mess with the acid-base balance of your tank, and harm delicate fish.

I have used Crystal Clear in the past, it is basically a bacteria supplement meant to clear the tank. It can be useful and you can use it with fish in the tank, just follow the directions. However, I would suggest slowly changing your water, 1/3 or less of the tank at a time, every 2-4 weeks depending on how sensitive your fish are. I don't think that something like the Crystal Clear will help your situation. It is more for cloudy water from food and fish poo debris.

Good luck!

 

[Olimpia]

Alright thanks for the advice! Yep, didn't think to soak the wood lol Luckily, I did a 30-40% water change and that did the trick for the most part. I'll do another one in a while and the water should be back to normal.

I was just curious about the crystal clear and how to use it for future reference. I got it before because I experimented with sand but scrapped that idea a while ago, so I haven't had a cloudy problem since.

 

[YOSHI]

What types of fish are you keeping???
I find that replacing your carbon on a regular basis, say once every 2weeks usually does the job, try not to waterchange to much tho otherwise you may run the risk of killing off your friendly bacteria, best advice for this is patience, it will eventually clear !

 

[Olimpia]

I've got a swordtail, neon tetras, dwarf gouramis, and a small [loach?]. I swear, to me, keeping chameleons is a breeze compared to fish! haha It's a completely different ball game, making sure the water is livable. But I'm learning.

I know, I'm trying not to change the water very often. After the ~35% water change the water looks significanty clearer, so that's good.

 

[lisagr07]

Olimpia, i've got some Mopani driftwood in a 5 gallon bucket with a powerhead in there for circulation (i figured it couldn't hurt). it's been in there for over a month now with three water changes and still the water it "tea" colored, granted, it's weak tea at this point but still not ready to add to my tank..... ( i'm just "patiently waiting" for the water to run clear for a couple of weeks before adding it to my tank....)

 

[YOSHI]

Everything should be thriving in there bar your swordtails, they prefer harder water so fresh driftwood softening it wont be helping, tho if the changes to your water are happening gradually which they will be, any form of life will slowly adapt with it, id just avoid fish wich are not suitable for your habitat like other livebearers, dwarf puffers, even a few of the shark species like red tailed sharks, rainbow sharks ect maybe get your KH and PH checked to see how much your water may have softened

 

[hallenhe]

A lot of the woods will always discolor the water to some extent, although soaking beforehand will minimize it. Some biotopes deliberately go for that color, and some fish inhabit in in nature.

 

[solosigns]

The best type of wood to put into your rank would be ( true drift wood) sold at a local fish store- or from your local lake. If from a store, pre sokeing is a must. and from a lake get a five gal buckit of water and 1/2 cup bleach. For a day then after a day a new buckit fresh water and a lot of de-clor. ( dechlorinator ) sold at a fish store , de- clor will remove all florin out of the wood after a day in that remove the wood and let sit out till it drys 3 days

Note all wood in a fish tank will drop PH so adding wood to a tank for a beginer is not recomended.

Assume this is a older tank and you do your every 2 week water changes 25%
bi weekly filter changes/ carbeen. There should not be a problem.

Crystal clear or any other product out there that says it will clear the water be warned
what it does it will not clear the water but bind very small particals of waste that is causing the clodyness into larger and larger particals intill the filter can suck it up and contain it ( must change filter after use )

The best way to get rid of cloudy water is water changes
and carben
do a every 3 day 25% water change for 3 times to see if that will help
also remove the wood and buy a fake one that's plastic

 

[WinstonChrchll]

The wood is basically releasing tanins inthe water causing it to turn yellow/brown. You need to pre soak any wood you put in there. A huge culprit is cork board, which turns the water a nice shade of brown.

Other than that it's not really bad for the fish unless they are sensitive to PH.