Green Water Or Tanins?

[pseud]

Unsure wether my luck with the absence of algae had ran out I did some testing. Let's back up, I've never suffered any algae problems.. a few spots here and there, but nothing to even be worth mentioning. My photoperiod is 5-2-5 (130w over 55g), dosing KNO3, KH2PO4, and Trace. I've kept nitrates at 10ppm, don't have a PO4 test kit but dose enough for 2ppm weekly, and Trace I've been dosing 10ml (1 tbsp/250ml water) of CSM+B 2 or 3 times a week.

I've added a large piece of wood to my tank, and of course, I couldn't boil it before hand. I noticed the water turn a darkish brown, along with cloudiness. The water doesn't really change color anymore, it's been a few weeks, but the cloudiness remains. It gets worse over time. I tried stopping dosing my Trace for a few days but I still got cloudiness, so I presumed it to be tanins. Anyway, today I decided it was going on for too long and should start easing up. I feared the worse. I dread the GW. I try and check some of the water by placing it in a white bowl but I can't tell if it's green or does have a slight brown tint from the tanins. It's just too hard to tell. So I ran some tests:

NH3 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 10
pH - 6.5
KH - 4

Pretty nice numbers, so I start thinking it HAS to be the bogwood. Did a massive water change. Have decided to reduce my lighting from 10 hours to 8 hours, with a 2 hour siesta, and dose zero trace and minimal PO4.

I don't want to invest in a UV Sterelizer, I wanna fix the root of the problem.

Anybody have suggestions?

Anybody have any idea on how to boil an extra large piece of driftwood?

 

[kenneth_kpe]

hmm it could be the tanin stains but usually in my experience tanin only stains the water but i can still see the tank, it doesn't really make my water cloudy.. just stains the water ! turns it dark brown you could run a carbon pad for a while to help clear out the tanin (temporary only!!) i think the carbon will suck out all the ferts you are dosing though.... i would not suggest stopping the fertilization.... this might cause a bigger problem, hwo about just soak the driftwood in a pail of water outside for around a week or more, pour hot water or boiling water over it every now and then to help speed up the leaching out of the tanin tanin is not that bad !: )

 

[pseud]

Well, it's getting below zero outside, don't want it to freeze over night... or get stolen... besides, I don't think I have anything big enough to put it in!

I'm stumped as to what's causing the green water then...

 

[kenneth_kpe]

hmmmm maybe the log caused an imbalance or something or the green water is because you suddenly lowered the lighting the fertilization.... about the wood how big is it ?!?!!? it seems awfully large !!!

 

[pseud]

The only thing the wood changed was the pH and the KH (lowered it). I didn't change any of the lighting or fertilizing until after the wood was added and after I suspected GW. Could a change in pH cause GW?

It's huge.. around 2 foot by 2 foot by 1 foot...

 

[newfishaddict]

Unsure wether my luck with the absence of algae had ran out I did some testing. Let's back up, I've never suffered any algae problems.. a few spots here and there, but nothing to even be worth mentioning. My photoperiod is 5-2-5 (130w over 55g), dosing KNO3, KH2PO4, and Trace. I've kept nitrates at 10ppm, don't have a PO4 test kit but dose enough for 2ppm weekly, and Trace I've been dosing 10ml (1 tbsp/250ml water) of CSM+B 2 or 3 times a week.

I've added a large piece of wood to my tank, and of course, I couldn't boil it before hand. I noticed the water turn a darkish brown, along with cloudiness. The water doesn't really change color anymore, it's been a few weeks, but the cloudiness remains. It gets worse over time. I tried stopping dosing my Trace for a few days but I still got cloudiness, so I presumed it to be tanins. Anyway, today I decided it was going on for too long and should start easing up. I feared the worse. I dread the GW. I try and check some of the water by placing it in a white bowl but I can't tell if it's green or does have a slight brown tint from the tanins. It's just too hard to tell. So I ran some tests:

NH3 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 10
pH - 6.5
KH - 4

Pretty nice numbers, so I start thinking it HAS to be the bogwood. Did a massive water change. Have decided to reduce my lighting from 10 hours to 8 hours, with a 2 hour siesta, and dose zero trace and minimal PO4.

I don't want to invest in a UV Sterelizer, I wanna fix the root of the problem.

Anybody have suggestions?

Anybody have any idea on how to boil an extra large piece of driftwood?

It is the bogwood, I am almost certain. I had the same thing in my tank. I added a large piece of drift wood after just a rinse. My tank water was very brown for a long time. And I was even doing water changes of 10% every day. It seems some pieces make the water much darker because other pieces Ive had didnt make the water very dark at all.

My dark water went away after a month or 5 weeks of 10-20% changes every 1-4 days.

I would take out the wood and boil/soak it.
==>I take my 5gallon bucket and put the wood in there, my big peice stuck out a few inces so I rotated it often, (If it does not fit in this, well,,,get a bigger bucket, perhaps a garbage can) I soak the wood in hot dechlorinated tap water for about 1 hour, then changed to new hot dechlorinated tap water wait one hour , again, and I do that 4 times thus for 4 hours. Then I boil water on my stove and in my kettle and add it to the 5g plastic bucket until it is full. This is steaming hot and sits for 16+ hours. I have found that 90% of the dark color is gone after this....

 

[kenneth_kpe]

yes the wood will lower the PH of your tank, thats the tannin at work.. im suspecting maybe the green water was caused by the sudden drop in lighting because of the tannin stain ? im not sure if the ph drop could cause an algal bloom though...
thats one huge piece of wood ! try what newfish is suggesting, pour boiling water over it and leave it soaked... but it really is hard to look for a container that big

 

[pseud]

Yeah, see, I'm convinced it's linked to the bogwood.. but the water is not really brown anymore.. there's a tint of color.. but the water gets very hazy... I dunno.. isn't there a chemical test for GW? lol

This weekend... like new fish suggest.. garbage can.. hot water.. all weekend... gonna get the job done...

 

[anvil63]

Do you know anyone with an old aluminum garbage can? You could boil water in that over a bon fire. Plus this would give you a great excuse to crack open a few beers, roast some hot dogs, and make some smores.

Carl

 

[delryn]

Where did you get the wood from?

I have had mixed luck getting bogwood from various sources.
All the wood I have gotten has added a degree of brown to the water - thats the tanins
but the wood that I got from locals suppliers also created some degree of algae blooms / murkiness - I think this is because it hasn't been sanitized, just picked, rinsed and sold
international suppliers (like Mopani) I've had no problems with - but much more expensive

Anyway my solutions have been
Too reduce tanins
- soak the wood for several hours in the bath tub (6-8 hours) and use a powerhead to circulate - repeat over a few days - the water will become less brown with each session
- if from a local supplier I use 150grit sandpaper gently to as much of the surface as possible, then for the first soaking I add bleach (I've tried ammonia as well) - be sure to add an extra couple of of soaks if doing this. - benefit is a clean tub afterwards - this has also worked great for wood I have picked myself

Hope this is of some help

 

[RYO]

I have a 3ft piece in my tank, i soaked in the bath over night then chucked it in tank (well Mrs made me lol)

As you can see it gets pretty murky , got to the point where i couldn't see the back of the tank (only 12 " wide) I just kept up the water changes and eventually it cleared. I still have tannins releasing after 15 months or so (slowly mind)
I love the tannin look and even add it to my 60L (kent black water extract) realy makes the tetras stand out for some reason.

 

[George Farmer]

Temporary carbon filtration and big water changes should help if you can't fix the problem outside the tank.

 

[pseud]

Thanks guys. Strangely I feel somewhat better. Guess I needed to vent!

 

[pseud]

After 24 hours I couldn't tell any difference. After the water change there was still a slight cloudiness but only really noticeable if I look lengthways through the tank.

I'm holding off dosing PO4 after reading that this could cause a bloom. We'll see.

 

[pseud]

Pretty much been 48 hours, and still no change....

Mr Phosphates is looking like the culprit....