Removing tannins with active carbon

[wdwmagic]

Hi there,

I have a new tank with a couple of large driftwood pieces. The wood is leaching a lot of tannins, and the water is pretty much like a coca cola color. I have installed a carbon pad in the Eheim 2126, but after 24 hours, I am not seeing any improvement. Do you have any experience of how long the carbon will take to have any impact (if at all)?

Many thanks.

 

[RTR]

It can take a lot of activated carbon, replace every 1-3 days.

 

[telecubby]

waterchange I put i bamboo & it's yellowing the water damnit lol & I think dogs peed on it omg but i soaked it for days scrubbed it noticed how yellow the water was rinsed it more & put it in ,now my tanks yellow lol
EVERYONE will ay keep on the water changes within reason & the charcoal won't have quite the effect your after.Keep it up (water changes) I'm with you on this one we need to be patient if we want to keep the wood

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

You will NEVER get all the tanins out...I had a nice piece of driftwood that did the same thing...I boiled it for hours a day, constantly changing the water, I bleached it, I soaked it, I hooked up a filter to the bucket and ran carbon...I did this for about 30 days and it still leached tanins...There is another kind of wood out there that doesnt leach tanins...Ill be darned if I can think of the name...There was a thread about it a while back...

 

[telecubby]

Mopani? or petrified wood? Maylasian driftwood?
brown oak tree leaves are safe leaves for tanks but red maple leaves are poisonous

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

It was the Malaysian driftwood that I use now...Doesnt leak a drop.

 

[tanker]

Take wood out and boil it a (will remove a lot but not all). A polly filter will clear tannics faster then carbon but is more expensive.

 

[wdwmagic]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Is there a particular brand of poly filter that you recommend? How would that fit into an eheim canister?

Many thanks.

 

[tanker]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Is there a particular brand of poly filter that you recommend? How would that fit into an eheim canister?

Many thanks.

I know of only one kind of poly filter pad. Is there more than one kind??

Cut the pad to fit into filter. Should be the last media in filter to avoid clogging.