New Aquarium Help

[Fee]

Hey I have just upgraded from keeping goldfish to tropical. I have a 55litre tank with 4 zebra danios, down from 5 one died last night, I hope just because they are new in, but it could be from the stupid wood I have just put in. I bought it from a specialist fish shop and boiled it for 8 hours then soaked it in warm water for 2 days but it is still turning my water a really bad brown. Is there any hope for the wood or should I take it out? Will I have to do a complete water change to get rid of the brown, how would I do this with the danios in? Any help would be much appriciated!

 

[lee8040]

its just the tanins from the wood, perfectly natural mines a slight yellow. dont do full water changes do say 50% or 30% water changes. eventually overtime it will go

 

[jimbooo]

i agree, i have wood in all my tanks. it takes at least a week of soaking to get the tannins out, 2 days will not have been enough.

you may have noticed a product called "black water extract" people add it to their tanks so the fish have a more natural water composition. one of the things in it is tannin.

your fish will actually prefer the tank in its brown tea like state. in time it will clear or if your impatient like me you can add carbon to the filter which will speed up the process.

really though it's only a viewing problem not a health problem at all for the fish. if the tanks new it's more likely to be a cycling issue. what are your water stats, namely ammonia & nitrIte (most crucial) PH and NitrAte?