newbie setup

[lambpie89]

Hi,
i just setup my first tank 2 days ago, planted with gravel substraight and some nice bog wood for hiding places.
I am just starting the bacteria cycle and hope to introduce my first fish this weekend, provided the tanks lvl are 0, 0 of course.

I have a few questions relating to my tank setup,
First off, the bog wood. i washed these babys and soaked them for an afternoon before placing them into my tank. These 2 bad boys have now started to leak brown residue into the tank water making it pretty dark, kinda looks like blackpool beach at venting time.
How can i clear up this brown coloured water and how long before the bog wood stops dying my tank. should i wait for this to be completly removed before i introduce fish?

cheers chris

 

[heresmike]

Hi Chris!

You should probably boil your bogwood for awhile, doing water changes during the boiling process. This will help reduce the amount of brownness that will leech into the tank water. To remove the brown water from your tank, you'll have to do water changes or add carbon to your filter.

Are you doing a fishless cycle? If you just set up your tank 2 days ago, your tank will most likely not be ready for fish this weekend.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Well, I know what you're talking about with the wood, my tank looks about the same lol. It won't hurt your fish though, and boiling it will work (I can't because my pieces are so big) Also, not to be nosy, but what kind of fish were you thinking of? Now that your tank is cycling this is a good time to make sure the fish you plan on getting will be okay for the size tank you have.

 

[lambpie89]

i think i may have used the wrong terminology, not doing fishless cycle although the idea has crossed my mind after reading articles about it.
Will just be starting with 1 or 2 fishies to get things going bateria wise.

In answer to the other question, i have no idea were still looking over as much info as possible before we choose our fish, want to have a big selection but not overstock.
The only ones we have decided on so far are the kissing fish and neon teras.

 

[yhbae]

Check your pH right now, vs your tap water pH. If it is much lower, you should be careful as during water change, you are going to pH shock the fish each time. The brown tanning usually results in lower pH.

I boiled mine for about 1 hour, then soaked it in hot water for couple of days afterwards until I see no more tanning. Mine doesn't affect pH at all...

By the way, some species do like this tanning effect, espectially tetras but it will be difficult to keep the water parameters stable unless if you know what you are doing...

 

[lambpie89]

right will do, if thats the case should i do a water change before i introduce some fish? will this affect the NO3 levels and growth of good bacteria?
if not i guess i could get round it by doing a small water change each day until tanning stops?

 

[FishDan]

The brown tanning usually results in lower pH.

This is only after a long time. And the change is gradual. And the change depends on the hardness of your water. All in all, I think this is more a myth than not. Certainly adding a piece of driftwood to your tank will not radically alter your pH. And if you are doing 20% water changes every week, any slight change made will never be enough to shock your fish. As I said, it takes a long time for driftwood to affect pH. In the long run, the tannins/driftwood may slightly alter your pH. They will in no way make keeping your water paramenters stable difficult.

The tannins (the brown stuff) can take weeks to completely vanish, depending on the the indivdual piece of wood. Or it could take a day. Boiling it helps move the process along faster, but is hard with bigger pieces.

Doing water changes will have no effect on your bacteria growth. Unless you do a couple things at the same time. If you change a lot of water and forget to add the dechlorinator, that may damage your bacteria colonies.

\Dan

 

[yhbae]

You are right, it does depend on the KH of your water. In my case, KH is only 3, and leaving the wood over night caused the pH to drop from 7.2 to 6.6 before boiling! If the KH value is higher, there's less need to be concerned about pH swing, but I'd still be careful unless if your water is hard just to be cautious.

Or it could be my bad luck with super-acidic piece of wood... (see my 25g tank)

 

[lambpie89]

so should i just grin and bare it? i mean the brown stuffs gotta stop leaking sometime! provided i keep an eye on the PH, do frequent water changes and keep the black charcole filter inserts in it should clear?

 

[yhbae]

Do you know your tap water parameters? You should at least be aware of your pH, KH and GH. If the pH of your tap water is close to what is in your tank, you are ok... Otherwise, you will need to swap out large portion of that water, unfortunately.

You should either boil or keep it under a bucket of water for a while until most of the tanning has been leached out though...

 

[lambpie89]

any idea how long that will take, been doing it for the last 5 days and it is still leaking a small amount

 

[K-Holed]

The tannin will just slowly fade over time. Its always a peril with bog wood (drift wood isn't quite so bad) I quite like my water slightly tinged, it brings out the colours of tetras especially As for your cycling, no benifical bacteria will start to grow until you add those first few fish.

 

[lambpie89]

i took the wood out while i soaked it and have done 2 water changes since then to try and remove the brown. the fillter just does not seem to be able to shift it? any suggestions with that?