# Tannins in the water



## hectik (Aug 20, 2009)

I currently set up my NPT (finally) and have finally cleared up the water of any debris floating around. Thing is, I have a lot of tannins in the water so it turned to a brown-ish tea color. Is it okay to use a power filter on the tank a few days to get rid of them?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

hectik said:


> I currently set up my NPT (finally) and have finally cleared up the water of any debris floating around. Thing is, I have a lot of tannins in the water so it turned to a brown-ish tea color. Is it okay to use a power filter on the tank a few days to get rid of them?


Water changes and charcoal will easily remove tannins. A power filter may work, but it may not be the most effective way to remove tannins.


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## hectik (Aug 20, 2009)

I tried a couple of water changes and they did do a small difference, but I'd like to clear it up as fast as possible. The powerfilter I had in mind was one that had charcoal in it already. I just posted this to see if it was okay to run a filter for a couple of days. I'll leave to Petsmart later tonight to pick one up. Thanks for the reply! I appreciate the answer.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Tannins will continue to leach out of the soil, sometimes for quite a while. If the water is not so dark you cannot see to the back of the tank then soft water fish will be fine. 
Water changes will remove the tannins and activated carbon will, too, but AC gets filled up pretty fast, so it is an expensive way to remove something that will not harm the fish.


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## MGoerke (Jan 4, 2010)

i have same issue kinda, i had a tank setup b4 i go Your book & wanted to plant it with soil, so i froze 5x5x1.25" approx, "slabs" of soil (i soaked it for 3-4 days b4 i froze it) & then garbed a cup scoped up gravel, put in the soil slab then covered it with the cup gravel, worked great! i did 1 slab 5 or so days ago & did another 2 about n hour ago! Looks like i will be good but i am getting a slight brown tint to the tank, i just put some more dense filter media on top of my hob filter media & put some new Carbon in also. it was clear till i just stirred up stuff with the 2 slabs tonight so i am just hoping it will settle down in a few weeks! Great timing on this subject!


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Fine floss filter media (I use polyester quilt batting) will remove very fine particles. 
Activated Carbon removes organic molecules like dyes,medicines, pesticides, tannins and quite a long list of things. 

MGoerke, if you are stirring up some debris when you are moving the gravel then the fine floss would remove that for you (If you want to remove it, might be something beneficial in the NPT). It won't do much for tannins, though.


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## PlantNewbie (Dec 4, 2009)

Does purigen remove tannins?


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## husonfirst (Sep 27, 2009)

I had tannins from almond leaves in my tank and my Aquaclear w/charcoal did not do much to remove the tannins. Water changes eventually got rid of the tannins.


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## MGoerke (Jan 4, 2010)

yeah I have been doing 1/5 - 1/4 H2O changed every 3 days while running carbon (new every 2 weeks) & fine filter media, I plan to remove carbon in a few days for good & then after next cange I may remove the fine filter media. Tthe changes in water seem to solowly diluting the tannins, I bet I will be good in ae-2 weeks!thanx for the help! If it was just me I would let the tannins sit I kinda like the look buy my wife isn't too keen on it.


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

I've had my tank set up for about 6 months now and it's still leaching some tannins- charcoal did almost nothing and my quick filter gets blocked up pretty quick. The only things that helped were water changes and Purigen. I bought the pre-bagged one and recharged it several times. I still have some tannins now but nothing that water changes don't knock back. Occasionally I'll run the Purigen to clean things up. Also, charcoal pulls other things out as well- some of which are good.


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## MGoerke (Jan 4, 2010)

yeah I may go get some Purigen cause I am feeling even new charcol every week makes very little diff. Best I am finding to work is like 1/4 water changes every few days. I hate to change even that much & after my last little water accident spillage the other night & me hurting my self I am prolly gonna wait a week b4 another change.


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## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

Tannins rock my socks.

They are better left in there, very beneficial to the fish's health and longevity.


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## MGoerke (Jan 4, 2010)

omg PURIGEN! It is amazing! I have been doing partial water changed every 3 days & new carbon every 1-2 weeks, I got purigen lastnight putit in & tonight it is sooooo much better! Average 1ml per gal, I put 45ml in a bag for my 36 gal & in 24 hours there is an amazind diff! It may be a bit more $ than charcol but it is reusable too! Look into it! Look it up on the www there are many great stories about it's success! I will update tomorrow! Just wist I has a b4 pic.


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