Most effective way to remove tannins from water

[fishgirl]

So i put a large piece of driftwood in my 55 gallon and it has completely turned the water brown. I decided that i dont want the water to be so brown. I dont want to remove the driftwood. What is the best method for clearing tannins out of my water without completely changing the water!?

[ScottFish]

A charcoal filter.

[twotone12valve]

A very high qualty activated Carbon, will do the trick and if you use a good reactor with it you can have crystal clear water in only a couple hours. But you need to remember those tannins are good for fish like Rams and other south American type stuff that need soft water.

[fishgirl]

I realize that the tannins are great for the fish but i cant handle this color. Its so dark that i can barely see my fish even with leds! And it just keeps getting darker!! Ill see what i can do about the carbon.

[Crazygar]

Carbon will take care of that in no time.

Gary

[fishgirl]

Should i just buy the jar of it they sell and put it in a nylon and tie it up and stick it behind each filter pad? My fileter pads have some carbon already in them...could i also just open them and put more in? Just dont really know how to go about doing this!

[Crazygar]

I would suggest replacing the carbon in your filter. Just throw out what you have in the filter media bag and replace with fresh. Remember to rinse the carbon before putting in the water.

Gary

[fishgirl]

Okay ill go get some later and probably some more neons while I'm at it. My brother is finally coming to get my other fish!

[Crazygar]

Keep us posted in your journal, looking forward to updates, and ahem ahem... pictures...

Gary

[fishgirl]

http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/weejimmy3/media/image-2.jpg.html

http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/weejimmy3/media/image-3.jpg.html

Some pictures of the tank in its current state. I'm going to take the wood out and figure out how I'm going to boil it. And while the wood is being leached of its tannins i will do the carbon treatment.

[Crazygar]

To me, that tank looks wonderful. If you want tannin soaked, check this out, I did up a Blackwater Biotope for Discrossus filementosa a few years ago and it was a favorite tank for a long time... wood, sand and fish. The water was dark as coffee and the fish loved it. pH was around 5.2

Gary

[fishgirl]

Yeah my fish were livin' it up in there. I took the wood out though because i think i prefer the clear water. I love that the fish love it and that it keeps my high pH low but i cant stand how dark it is! I bought a box of carbon and I'm going to put it in the filter today. Cross our fingers!

[Crazygar]

Removing the wood will slowly bring the pH back up. Those tannins that it's leeching is helping things. Carbon will work with the wood in there.

Gary

[fishgirl]

I'm planning to soak the wood more and possibly boil it. That's the reason i took it out. And we cut it down a little so i can move it around more in the tank. It fit nicely but i ended up having a little cut off the back to give it more freedom to move.

[Crazygar]

The wood will leech tannins over quite a long period of time, boiling will for sure speed up the leeching process, but some tannins are good just remember that.

Gary