# my yellow aquarium water



## david f (Mar 24, 2006)

the yellowish tint to my water is normal,from what Diana Walstad says ,but my water seems to be more so than what i feel is looking nice.Our wild water 
and our tap water in new zealand is mostly soft ,so I have to increase water
hardness.my plants were growing very well in the first month but now seem to have slowed two months later.fish are happy and snails too.
For some reason i feel the enviroment there in may not be to good,because of the subrate which consists of chunky organic composted pine bark(Tannins?).


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

How much lighting do you have over your tank? Does it get any sunlight? The tannins may be stopping sufficiant light getting to the plants, especially if the tank only has artificial light, so you could try removing them (using carbon or water changes) and see if the plants pick up. Do you have any emergent or floating plants, and if you do, has their growth rate also slowed? If the problem is only lack of light they should not have been affected since they grow out of the water. 

Oh, by the way, are you growing any native plants in your tank? I live next door (Australia) and like growing New Zealand and Australian native aquatic plants, and I'd love to see some pictures of any natives you have! :biggrin:

From Alex.


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## david f (Mar 24, 2006)

*To Miss Fishy*

I was using coolwhite energysaving lightbulbs,2x11watts,over my 50 ltr 60x30x30 cm tank,though I removed them a month ago to see if just natural window light would make a difference.I took the lid off as well to let the window light over the floating plants as well.the light is mainly shade with sunlight reflecting of our wood fence.I have been adding only the evaporated water,only because i did not want to remove all the protective DOC?,the water seems to clear but returns a week or so later.I have Indian fern & Hydrocotyle pennywort as floaters,my Ludwigia repens is getting gentle encouragment to emerge and Bacopa caroliniana is emerging own it's own,but in general all of my plants seem to be growing very slowly.
I often think about trying to set up a native display using wild plants,moss covered rocks,ferns etc in very cold water,but I feel that it may be a little difficult.Sorry I have no native photo's but if you are interested I will post some. thank you for your reply.

P.S I did think about the light restrictions,the back glass of the tank is tinted also .Lighting may be the problem I will try to work on that.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

You don't have to put up with yellow water if you don't like it. Yellow water probably means quite a bit of DOC. I don't see any reason not to remove some of it. As soil settles down, it will release less.

It would be nice to see a picture of this tank. 

Slower plant growth could be from anything-- softwater, low light, plant competition, etc. I wouldn't automatically blame it on the soil.


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

So whatdo yo mean when you say it's:
"chunky organic composted pine bark"


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## david f (Mar 24, 2006)

sorry .I took a long time to reply,I have a photo ,so will post it to show you.
"Chunky' meaning the bark the size of a thumb nail. 'Cheers'


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## david f (Mar 24, 2006)

Just like to say thanks ,the views shared have helped me to take steps in sorting the yellow water trouble ,my tank looks very clean again .


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## david f (Mar 24, 2006)

thank you Diana ,I will post some photo's soon.


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## david f (Mar 24, 2006)

*to DataGuru*

here I have managed to upload the photo of my subtrate,It's a little old now but at least I know how to attach the pictures in future.A common bag of potting mix from the local garden centre,rather quite large pieces.


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