Black water

[Daniel]

I've got some wood in my tank that made my water black, i mean really black, i cant see more than 10cm into the tank. Its a 1600L tank so water changes would be a big wast, i did put some charcoal in, a kg, did'nt help much. Anyone got some other ideas to clear the tank? I know that you'll never get it perfectly clear, i just dont want to wast that much water on water changes.

[Henk Hugo]

water change - as you should be doing - should clear it. My 2500L goes a lovely tan colour after a week or so post water change

[Daniel]

Dont think you understand, i do water changes like i should. Ten percent every two weeks, its not helping that much. I can do more if there is no other alternative but thats not helping the water problem in Cape Town.

[Zafgak]

We had a similar problem with Mopani - Regular water changes as normal and your tank will clear in a few months. If you are impatient - Take the wood out and boil it twice, after boiling let it sit in the hot water for 12 hours, this will get rid of a lot of the tannins.
If it is too big to boil put in in a HOT bath overnight, twice.

[Henk Hugo]

10% doesnt cut it. if you want it clear do 50% once a week....

[Daniel]

Thanks that is a good idea and it does work, i've tried it befor on smaller pieces. This is a 2m by 1m piece of wood. So the odd bath tub or steam pot is'nt gonna help me on this one. Its been a long time now and it does'nt seem to get better or worst. I cant post a picture to show, but its so bad that if a guppy swims 10cm from the front glass it just vanish.

[Henk Hugo]

Are you sure the wood isnt actually rotting?

[Daniel]

I have taken all the pieces of wood off that looked like it might rot. All the soft pieces are gone even inside. Nothing that i can see is rotting.

[Henk Hugo]

mmmmmmm.... ok then i think just keep on doing water changes....

[Zafgak]

Hi Daniel your problem is the size of the piece - it is just going to take a bit longer to leach the tannins. This is gonna be a patience excersize - There is one other option - if you have a river near by, attch a piece of rope to the log, chuck it in the river for a few weeks and it will leach quickly. Then pull it out and dunp boiling water over it to kill off any bugs . Leave it in the sun to dry and then return to the tank.

[Laure]

Unfortunately all wood should be prepared first by boiling/soaking in hot water. Now such a large piece presents other kinds of problems. I found that even with smaller pieces of mopani soaking it for a month in the bath tub with hot water changed every day did not clear up all the tannins. It still leached a little bit. I'd love to know what you are gonna do with that big piece of wood!

[Asgar]

Take my advice.

1) Always soak wood in hot water.

place wood in a large bucket and fill with hot tap water until the wood is fully submerged.
If wood doesnt fit in bucket get a larger bucket or container; anything that will contain the wood and hot water.
Turn the piece of wood a couple of times.
Soak wood until the water changes colour or a tint is visible in the water.
Remove wood or drain water.
Rinse the piece of wood under cold tap water.
2) Repeat above process

Repeat above process until the water doesn't tint that much or very slightly tints the water.
3) Repeat once more

4) Rinse wood thoroughly

5) Place wood in tank

6) Do water changes as necessary

There is an 80% possibility that the water in the tank will get tinted/coloured, However not as much as placing wood in the tank without soaking
7) By following the above steps, you would not have a problem.

[solex69]

Boil new wood a few times first. Thereafter, you need to do frequent water changes until the leeching stops. That's the way it is, so have patience. My 'new' pieces of wood only stopped leeching recently after being in my tanks for 7 months plus. I had to do regular water changes and now I dont have to

Cheers
Dale

[Daniel]

Hey, whats going on here. Altum gave me a name of a product and now everything he wrote is gone? I'm i blind here or was it taken off. If so, Altum give me a pm with that name please.

[Henk Hugo]

i believe its been moved to his own forum. You can find them in the sponsors sections. No commercial posting outside of the sponsors forum or some stuff like that

[Daniel]

O... right... I'll check it out, thanks.

[Asgar]

Using chemicals is not going to save you much time. You still have to carry out water changes which is not a problem.
Doing a 25-50% water change once a week only takes 4-8minutes.

[JaguarCichlid]

Take my word, if you have a bath and a shower, put the piece in the bath and soak it in HOT water for a few days.....

If you dont have a bath and shower (Or wife...) do the same, just buy lots of deodorant before you try.....

Hot water works best..

[Daniel]

I like the idea of the 25-50% water change that takes 4-8 min. You got to give us a wright up on what pump your using. ''How to do a 50% water change in 8min on a 1600L tank" lol.
Thanks for all the info and help guys i'm gonna try a couple of things and let you know what worked. Like i said in the begining i do not want to wast that much water every week. So i'm thinking of working some of it into my garden and then polishing the tank with the product that Altum spoke about. I do understand that it is not a chemical and works like carbon, just much faster and effective.
Thanks again to all and the laugh's

[Henk Hugo]

it is a chemical... one should always use your tank waste water in your garden

From the Seachem website:


Purigen™ is a premium synthetic adsorbent that is unlike any other filtration product

[Daniel]

Now i'm confused. Is it a chemical?
Does this chemical go into the water or does it just take stuff out of the tank and stay in the filter. What i'm trying to ask is does it put anything harmfull back into my tank when doing its work?

[Rory]

My point was that it's not putting anything into the water, it's just absorbing some stuff out of the water...

[Daniel]

So if its not putting any bad chemicals into the tank them i'm fine with that idea.

[brentnorm]

It's a great product and is great for absorbing nasties out of the water.