Water turned brownish after adding leaves, cholla wood and alder cones

[Dimos]

Hi everyone,

I am excited to be a new owner of Red Cherry Shrimp. I am trying to make the aquarium as more enjoyable for them, as possible. Recently I added Indian almond leaves, cholla wood and alder cones and after that the water color turned brownish. I did many water changes, took out some of the leaves and even added salt, but still water is brown. Is it normal? Can I do something to have clearer water?

 

Thanks,

Dimos

[buck]

That colour is just the tannins leaching from the wood, leaves and cones. Its perfectly normal but can be unsightly. What kind of salt did you add? 

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by buck

[Dimos]

3 minutes ago, buck said:

That colour is just the tannins leaching from the wood, leaves and cones. Its perfectly normal but can be unsightly. What kind of salt did you add? 

 

I added the API aquarium salt.

I took out some leaves and wood so that to have clearer water, but it didn't work. As long as it is OK for the shrimp, I could leave it like that.

[jayc]

2 hours ago, Dimos said:

As long as it is OK

It is ok for the shrimp, they like the tannins, and it has health benefits (anti bacterial). But the salt isn't good for shrimp in the long term. It will increase your TDS. Please check your water parameters, and do a water change if necessary.

 

the alder cones will be the one leaking the most tannins by far. Then the cholla wood. But the cholla is more yellow than brown water.

[NoGi]

Put Bob in to Sponge it out

 

 

[Dimos]

1 hour ago, jayc said:

 

 

Oh, good to know! Initially I added salt to decrease the amount of Nitrite, which was quite high... I will not add salt in the next water change.

So this means your shrimp aquarium has similar water color?

 

19 minutes ago, NoGi said:

Put Bob in to Sponge it out

 

 

LOL, that's his job, right? ;)

[jayc]

31 minutes ago, Dimos said:

So this means your shrimp aquarium has similar water color?

Well ... not anymore, since the alder cones and driftwood in my tank is now old and no longer leak tannins. I add Blackwater extract to my water change to get the tannins and dark colour back !!

If you still have Nitrite reading, then your tank needs to continue cycling a bit longer. Hope you haven't added shrimp yet.

[Kaylenna]

If you really don't like the color, you can boil the alder cones and wood for a while (boil for say 15 mins, dump water, add new water, boil 15 mins, etc til your water stops getting dark fast after the boiling begins - the time isn't that important) or pre-soak them in a bucket for a few days/weeks.  But you will lose part of the point of putting the cones in (the addition of tannins) and they will disintegrate faster too. 

If you REALLY don't like the brown... I think activated carbon will also take it out (along with other things, good and bad).

[dash77]

Purugen or activated carbon will reduce the colour really quickly, alot of benefits to having tannins in your water though. Each to their own I suppose, hope the rest of your cycle goes well

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[Dimos]

2 hours ago, jayc said:

Well ... not anymore, since the alder cones and driftwood in my tank is now old and no longer leak tannins. I add Blackwater extract to my water change to get the tannins and dark colour back !!

If you still have Nitrite reading, then your tank needs to continue cycling a bit longer. Hope you haven't added shrimp yet.

I see, makes sense! You can even buy new wood, or alder cones. They run for only $3-4 on ebay.

I already have the shrimp cause my first water reading showed everything perfect! The high Nitrite came up immediately after I added all the wood, alder cones and almond leaves. That's why I tried to reduce it instantly with salt. But as you said, no more salt in the shrimp tank.

Thanks a lot for the tips, its really helpful!

42 minutes ago, Kaylenna said:

If you really don't like the color, you can boil the alder cones and wood for a while (boil for say 15 mins, dump water, add new water, boil 15 mins, etc til your water stops getting dark fast after the boiling begins - the time isn't that important) or pre-soak them in a bucket for a few days/weeks.  But you will lose part of the point of putting the cones in (the addition of tannins) and they will disintegrate faster too. 

If you REALLY don't like the brown... I think activated carbon will also take it out (along with other things, good and bad).

Well, I guess I will leave it as it is, since shrimp prefer it that way!

30 minutes ago, dash77 said:

Purugen or activated carbon will reduce the colour really quickly, alot of benefits to having tannins in your water though. Each to their own I suppose, hope the rest of your cycle goes well

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
 

Thanks, however I decided to leave it as is!

[Grubs]

3 hours ago, Dimos said:

I added salt to decrease the amount of Nitrite

Salt does not decrease the amount of nitrite.

Salt is added to reduce the toxicity of nitrite because at high concentrations the chloride from the salt competes with the nitrite for entry into the gills (of fish) thereby reducing nitrite uptake.   Shrimp gills work differently and I don't know if salt has any effect at all on nitrite toxicity to shrimp.

Nitrite suggests your tank has not finished cycling - I'd be removing livestock, or in the very least doing frequent water changes to keep the nitrite lower (but this may also prolong the cycle).  Best solution is probably to squeeze a sponge from a mature filter into the tank to speed up the cycle.

[jayc]

3 hours ago, NoGi said:

Put Bob in to Sponge it out

Boy was I slow. I only got it after seeing Dimos' tank photo again. 

 

15 minutes ago, Dimos said:

You can even buy new wood, or alder cones.

Yeah, I know. But I have a huge 1L bottle of Blackwater extract that I want to finish off. Plus, I like adding it once in a while only. Manually adding blackwater and cold water to my tanks simulates the rainy season to induce spawning. 

 

 

+1 to what Grubs said.

Perfect water readings doesn't mean a brand new tank has cycled (ie. has beneficial bacteria) if the tank is not producing nitrogenous waste to start off with. It was just devoid of any nitrogenous waste input, so you are not measuring any ammonia or nitrite. 

The moment you add livestock and they start producing waste, nitrogenous levels start increasing. And without live beneficial bacteria to process these waste products (ammonia & nitrite), you will see readings rise. 

 

Edited August 30, 2016 by jayc

[Dimos]

7 minutes ago, jayc said:

Boy was I slow. I only got it after seeing Dimos' tank photo again. 

hahaha you didn't expect that!

7 minutes ago, jayc said:

Yeah, I know. But I have a huge 1L bottle of Blackwater extract that I want to finish off. Plus, I like adding it once in a while only. Manually adding blackwater and cold water to my tanks simulates the rainy season to induce spawning. 

wow this sounds so professional, simulating the rainy season!

I'm glad I found out about this forum, you guys are really helpful!

12 minutes ago, Grubs said:

Salt does not decrease the amount of nitrite.

Salt is added to reduce the toxicity of nitrite because at high concentrations the chloride from the salt competes with the nitrite for entry into the gills (of fish) thereby reducing nitrite uptake.   Shrimp gills work differently and I don't know if salt has any effect at all on nitrite toxicity to shrimp.

Nitrite suggests your tank has not finished cycling - I'd be removing livestock, or in the very least doing frequent water changes to keep the nitrite lower (but this may also prolong the cycle).  Best solution is probably to squeeze a sponge from a mature filter into the tank to speed up the cycle.

Interesting to know! Well, I was doing frequent water changes and the nitrite dropped to safe levels.

[jayc]

4 minutes ago, Dimos said:

Well, I was doing frequent water changes and the nitrite dropped to safe levels.

Keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite tests.

It will just go back up again everytime the shrimp do a poop, if your tanks is not cycled properly.

If you have a friend that has a mature filter for their fish tank or shrimp tank, see if you can get them to squeeze their filter wool and pour that dirty water (which will be full of beneficial bacteria) straight into your filter.

[Dimos]

7 minutes ago, jayc said:

Keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite tests.

It will just go back up again everytime the shrimp do a poop, if your tanks is not cycled properly.

If you have a friend that has a mature filter for their fish tank or shrimp tank, see if you can get them to squeeze their filter wool and pour that dirty water (which will be full of beneficial bacteria) straight into your filter.

I have a mature filter from my fish tank, will do it right away!

Thanks a lot!