Should I Be Worried?

[Aisha]

Hi,

Yesterday after my normal water change i added some bamboo into my tank, this was after i had soaked and boiled them in water to release any tanins and and any bacteria etc..

I wake up this morning to find that the tank water has gone mirky, now i can only assume its the bamboo as its the only thing that has been added in my tank which i dont really understand why coz of my above step..

Basically i dont know whether i should be worried or not, could the mirkyness just be tanins, which i have heard is extremely good for the tank (im not really sure why but thats what ive read)

last night i lost a fry (the only fry that survived :'(..) could that have been due to the bamboo, will the same happen to my mollies??

is there anything that i can do? and how long will the mirkyness last, should i take out the bamboo or is the damage already done??

Please help!

Thanks
Aisha

P.S.. me mollies seem fine, no weird behaviour..

 

[Colin_T]

What colour is the murky water? If it is brown then it is tannins from the bamboo. If it is cream or milky white, then it is bacteria possibly from the bamboo, or from too much fish food.
Try doing a 50% water change and see how it looks in a couple of days.
Tannins are harmless and won't cause problems to fish unless the plant is poisonous, bamboo is not poisonous to fish.
Smell the tank water and if it smells unpleasant, then it could be a bacterial bloom and a partial water change will also help.
Increase the surface turbulence/ aeration if possible.

The baby molly could have died from anything and it was probably just a coincidence that it died when the bamboo was added.

Some wood can drop the PH of the tank, check the PH and make sure the bamboo isn't causing the PH to go acidic. If it is you will need to add some limestone, shell, or carbonate hardness (KH) buffer to stabilise the PH. Sodium bicarbonate can be used to raise the PH, but only add a bit at a time to prevent massive PH swings.
Sodium bicarb is available from any supermarket for a few dollars.

 

[Aisha]

Thanks Colin T!

Will definately do so, i have removed the bamboo as another member advised.. its sad tho because it looked soo nice.. o well as long as my fish will b better off then i cant complain