Yellow Water

[DRD1812]

The water in my tank has got like a yellow tint to it now I've been doing water changes (probably more than I should to be honest to try and get the water normal) and I've bought all new inards for my filter. What else could I do and is the problem serious since my fish seem happy as ever?

 

[Paul_MTS]

By any chance have you added some kind of wood without soaking/boiling it before hand?

if you have then the would is leeching tannins into the water. It does no harm to the fish infact some will love it but in my opinion it doesn't look nice.

you can eiter remove the wood and boil it for a few hours or soak it for a few days.

add carbon to your filter

or carry on doing your water changes and it will go eventually.

 

[MissClaire]

^^^ what he said, my driftwood adds a tan colour to the water and this is harmless to the fish. I dont mind it because it isnt too severe in my tank.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Yellow water is also a sign of amonia. Have you tested recently? Is your tank cycled?

Putting new innards into your filter may have removed all of the beneficial bacteria you had been building up and so unless you replayed it gradually there is a good chance you are going through a mini-cycle at the very least.

Monitor your water (check even if you have added wood) and do daily water changes of 30% to keep it safe.

HTH

 

[DRD1812]

I've had bogwood in for ages and i did boil it before hand maybe not for long enough... I changed all my filter when I did my last water change new carbon and wot not also I have some (forgot its name zeolite or summet (I'll go and have a look in a bit n look like a right divvy cos it waint be owt like that lol) stuff in thats suppose to get rid or amonia and all over stuff too I'll change that over and add come more.

Least by the sounds of it it isn't going to kill mu fish since they all seem happy as pie.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Have you tested for amonia? It's not going to be the wood after any length of time. Changing all your filter media is a bad idea. I never change mine, you are literally taking out allt he good bacteria that converts wastwe into a safer form.

'Stuff that gets rid of amonia' is likely to be ammo-lock and it does not get rid of it, just converts it into a slightly less harmful form but it will still kill your fish.

You didn't answer my question... is your tank cycled?

Your fish may look happy now but if you have a problem with levels and don't take action there will be problems.

HTH

 

[DRD1812]

Ok amonia is fine, it is Zeolite Amonia Remover and I'm not too sure what you mean by cycled.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Cycling your tank is building up the good bacteria that convert fish and plant waste (amonia, which should always be 0)) into NitrIte (which is less harmful but still should be 0) and then nirIte into nitrAte (which should be under 40 but it depends on other factors).

Have a look in the pinned section in the beginners section for more information. What was your amonia level and did you test for nitite and nitrate?

How are your fish and the water colour?

 

[Yenko]

It's just tannins. You should see some of the lakes up where I live, where the water is completely red with tannins. They do acidify your water a bit, but I doubt a merely yellow color represents a high enough level to change your PH drastically. If you want, buy a PH tester.

The tannins can come from any decomposing plant matter; do you have live plants?