This has been THE most useful video I have watched in weeks! I have very soft water BUT as I live in an agricultural area right on an old coal field, my GH /KH readings were confusing me. Then I put a huge piece of wood (from an aquascaping shop) in and ended up with orange water, and weird readings. Your video has cleared up my confusion - thank you so much for the simple, easy to understand explanations and your calm, considered, non-manic presentation.
I'm going to be doing another video in my "water Chemistry" series focusing on TDS. I thought I'd throw this one back out there to whet your appetites.
Thank you Dan! Just one of the many reasons that I enjoy your channel so much, you are always quick to respond to questions, and are truly concerned about helping others, in this fascinating hobby . Thanks once again buddie, keep up the good work!
Nice update brother... and in MHO your 100% right about filtration... in fact it pisses me off when I see pet stores selling kits to ppl and you just know they are going to get it home, kill 50 fish in the first month and give up on the hobby... I know... I see it all the time... I run into them at the "pet"stores all the time... some bewildered guy standing there with an ashamed look on his face... you can just tell by looking at him... say something like " i got some of those, they'er great" and every time " ya I use to have a tank but everything keeped dying"... You just know it... every time too... Its kinda hurtful actually, cuz you know the poor guy never intended to go out, spend a bunch of money and kill everything he touched... It hurts us all and there is no need for it (not to mention the poor little fishes etc.) Anyways,,, You should be somewhere around 5 to 10 times what it says on the box...MIN!
Overworking yourself following this dude. I have a 55g stocked with 60-65 fish. Booibus stain tank. Grab some pothos sit in your tank. And a few more plants. You wont have to worry about nitrates building up that high.
Wow, I had no idea just how effective my jungle is at extracting nitrates. I have a 75gal with a guppy colony that's been growing and growing for a year, and a small school of black phantom tetras, plus way way too many mystery snails. It's planted right out, frogbit and salvinia floaters and I have pothos and monstera growing out the top at the back. I've never seen the nitrates hit 40ppm, and sometimes let water changes go for a month or more, just topping up. Sponge and fluidized media filters. Never gravel vac. Only let it settle and feed the plant roots.
+Dan Hiteshew can you tell me where you get your testing kits? i've always wanted one of those but all i can ever find are the testing strips. Do you know the name of these type of kits?
I know the video isn't new but gathering all the info I can as Im preparing to take a trip to tannintown. Ive got 2 - 9 foot plus long pieces of bogwood Im curing and gonna put in the 540g tank in a few weeks and gonna keep South American fish in it now. I just set up a 75g for the Mbuna I kept, as most of them moved on yesterday. The tannins are heavy now, but will soak and sundry for a few more weeks. Good video.. Thanks
I'd pay more for these woods if they soaked the stuff right out them pre purchase, even though you can expect to pay 10 Pounds in the UK for a good looking bit of wood. Eventually, i believe from experience years back, the tannin issue vanishes. It's a depressing nuisance. Why i ended up in silk plant land for years...
Hi Dan, really amazing video!! thank you for sharing! much respect for your knowledge and sharing it so freely! unlike other people you understand in-depth about organics! Really appreciate it! Thanks Buddy!! please continue to educate!
+Emile Isaacs I'm really sorry that I'm just seeing this. You got sent to spam, and I never got the notification. Thanks so much for the encouraging words! I'll do my best to keep bringing quality content.
Thank you Dan, I learned a lot from you. I'm beginning to research the factors that repels Blood suckers ( leeches). In the areas of a slow moving river that receives run-off through an Oak Tree stand, these creatures are very few in numbers. Do you have any ideas as to how high a tannin content must reach to becomes harmful to your fish?
Tannis are good for fish. The only thing is that they reduce the pH, so fish that need hard water with higher pH wouldn't do well in a tank full of tannins. (not because of the tannins though)
very interesting post. I have a 450l Juwel tank with its internal filter plus a fluval 306.I keep central and south american cichlids. I live in a hard water area(essex uk) the tap water is chlorinated and has base nitrates of about 20ppm.ph 7.3 I added to the tank on set up 8 months ago a massive piece of drift wood( about 15lb in weight). I have found over time the wood is still leeching tannins into the water, however the ph is only about 7.2. nitrates typically 50ppm. re water changes I feel that many people change too much too often. What is the reason for water changes? mainly to control water parameters. I feel rather than changing vast amounts of water try to get the tank system running better.I change 15% once a week in a fairly heavily stocked tank, this change is the resul only of gravel cleaning more than changing water for the sake of it.
The main goal of water changes is to remove nitrates. If you have nitrates in your source water, this becomes problematic. There are also other organic compounds and microbial life that build up over time, and need to be manually removed via a water change. There is no way to test for these other, various contaminants, so the nitrate test is a good proxy for when your water is in need of a change. Depending on how different your source water is from your tank water, very large changes can be detrimental. 10% weekly and 25% monthly is a common "rule of thumb" to go by.
question, i just purchased a 10 gal aquarium and i added live plants and wood, im hoping to add some ember tetra, a betta, and a pleco, so my question is will they be okay with the tannins? my tank it still cycling so i can remove it if i need to.
u would think those roots would suk up more nitrates. maybe u need a faster growing set of plants. a drip of freshwater all the time going to add as water evaporates! just a thought😜
I like your tank. Is it a Central/ South American theme? I've more or less made my decision there re specific fish. It'll then be down to ph levels/ temperatures/ and species compatability. I'll not be planting, just rocks, driftwood, bogwood and silks/plastics. Tank is 81 by 40 by 40 cm.
Dan have you ever used cedar driftwood in any of your aquariums? If so do you think it produces more tannins than other types of wood? I have been trying do as much research on this subject as possible, but I am getting no real concrete answers. I have a very beautiful piece of driftwood that I found about a year ago , and it is quite hard, and cured by the sun and weather. I have googled using cedar wood, and in the talk forums every one is claiming that it can even be poison to your aquarium, but most of the comments, are not first hand knowledge, like I tried it and it killed all my fish, and had to break my aquarium down, more like I have heard it was poison. Anyway I apologize for the long question, but would value your thoughts on this subject. By the way any very beautiful driftwood that you collect in my area is almost certainly cedar. Your Angel fish tank is rocking! very beautiful.
I've never used it myself, but I can't find anyting suggesting it's not safe. And considering you can shop for cedar driftwood for aquariums and find endless sites selling it, I'm going with it being safe. (it'll probably be very productive on the tannins too)
Thanks Michael for your reply! I have incorporated the cedar driftwood into my aquascape, along with some nice chert stones in a new 29 gallon setup, and I think it turned out quite beautiful. The largest piece of driftwood creating a big arch. Have had quite a bit of tannins, the first couple of weeks, but did a big water change, and now it has slowed down. Have put about 18 Endlers in the tank, and they are thriving, courting, dancing, and growing like crazy, so I think myth dispelled. Anyway thanks again for your reply and happy aquarium keeping.
Hey Dan, I am trying to do a better job of understanding tannins and I found your video. So nothing I am planning on having in my tank comes from water with heavy tannin content, but I am sure there would be some in their home waters. I know tannins will soften water, but are there other benefits that it would have? In small amounts, is it beneficial to the fish as far as their health goes? One of the things I am working towards is not having to do a crazy maintenance regime, so I am checking all angles out. This stuff wasn't well discussed in to 60's and 70's when I kept aquariums, so I have a large learning curve to follow now that I am starting again. Thanks for your work!!
Tannins do soften water, but not by a lot. You need water that looks like weak tea before you start seeing real affects. And it is believed that tannins have a natural antibiotic property too. Unless you're wanting to keep very hard water fish, the tannins from a piece of wood or the roots of plants isn't going to have much of an impact .
Dan thanks much for this video. Cleared up a few things for me. I do have a question on my paludarium water. Its a 29gal cube, with aprox. 13gal that is water. I do a weekly water change on it an my 5gal shrimp tank. But the pal,,,,,, has a 20gal canister on it, that the water exits down a waterfall from the top, and goes back to the canister in the opposite corner, I have very little water flow, as I can tell by plants, is this bad u think ? I also have high ph in tap water 8.0 an in both tanks after treating still higher. I do not know how to naturally bring it down.. Is this bad, especially for my CRS in my 5 gal ? I have 3 dwarf puffers, 4 albino corys, 4 otos I never see, 2 shrimp an 1 beta. I know its alot to ask. But if u have time I would so appreciate it. Thanks Kaye
8.0? Wow. What fish do you keep in the aquarium part? As long as the fish are ok in that water, everything should be fine. Water tgat hard will buffer virtually unlimited tannins, so keep an eye on your nitrstes, and you should be good to go. Send me a pic. It sounds cool. I'm on google+ or Facebook.
Kathleen Miller If I'm reading this right, you have 12 fish in a 5 gallon tank? Your Puffers should be separated from the Betta, but the others should be OK. (Give the Betta a 5g of it's own) That's a high bioload on such a small tank, so keep your eye on the nitrates.
Thanks Dan for ur response.! No I have 12 fish in the paludarium water part. That is aprox. 13gal. Only things in the 5 gal. Is Red Cherry Shrimp, mabey 25 , 1 Bamboo Shrimp an 2 sm snails. I can't. Put the beta in with the shrimp, he will eat them. Had the puffers over a month now, an so far the only ones they bother is each other. Not even the beta. But my ph is so high that my shrimp don't do well. I don't know how to naturally bring it down. I test for nitrates also have ph and high ph tests . Yes I'll try to send u pics. But u also can go to here to my name and I have pictures of my pal,,,,,,, Thanks again Dan.. Kaye
great video. I have driftwood soaking for the purpose of lowering my ph. I was looking to introduce fish that required a lower pH since mine sits at 7.6 - 7.8. this video helped me realize that the driftwood not going to do anything for me, once again great video. Also you have an angel fish with a red mark in inside and I was told that fish like that are good indicators of water condition based on how bright the red spot is; do you find that to be true?
If your ph is 6 will it drop even more? Because like um I want a planted aquarium with some driftwood but I ain’t paying money for ph adjusters especially if I could possibly kill the fish by messing up with those adjusters
In the summer my fish tanks get a 50% or more every day and in the winter like when school is in they get it done once a week or 2 my fish adapt because of that I start off slow at the end of summer and in summer I slowly make it up too the over 50% a day
@@DanHiteshew-oneandonly thank you sir, eventhough this guide is from 5 years ago it helped me a lot. im new to this hobby and im hooked to it right away, stress reliever for the whole family since here in out country we are still fighting the pandemic. GOD Bless to you sir and your family.
in your experience.. what fish would you say can live in a tank with angelfish? i have 2.. with cories.. and some tetras.. but id like some more cichlid type fish. wanted to get gouramis but ... i read that it was a bad idea..
Not gouramis or barbs. (except Cherry Barbs) I had a Dwarf Pike cichlid, and Rams, apistogramma, Keyhole Cichlids. Or you could do a red tail, or rainbow shark. Live bearers like Mollies would be fine too.
I have the exact same chemical testing kit as you and my new 5 gallon shrimp tank seems to be steadily decreasing in pH. Tanins are very high and the water, although clear, is very stained. All other tests I do are normal and perfect (ammonia, NH3, NH4, etc.) although I cannot test my gH, but I do add aquarium salt with every water change. I do weekly water changes of about 25-40%. Do you have any idea why my tanins are so high and why my pH is dropping so steadily? its so bad that my shrimp are dying and I started with a dozen and can now only consistently find 3 or 4 over the course of 2 months. note about tank setup: tank was years old and perfectly fine with logs and plants and external filter with sponge. I changed the gravel to a soil and added some plants but everything else I kept, even the water i kept, and then cycled the "new" tank for a couple weeks before adding shrimp.
+Owen Giroux If you have soft water, which it sounds like you do, then tannins will lower your pH more so than if you had harder water. Soft water has little buffering capacity, so the Tannins will have more of an impact. Is your tap water already acidic? The soft water itself would be enough to kill the shrimp. They need some hardness. The salt will help.
+Dan Hiteshew After watching the video, that sad my concern. my tap water is around 6.5pH I use the recommended amount of aquarium salt as it says to use on the box :/ should I toss in a bit more?
Owen Giroux you could add a bit more. You can also raise the hardness by adding some calcium carbonate or even just put some limestone in the tank. Either of these will quickly raise your pH, and make it mire suitable for fish.
Owen Giroux Calcium carbonate can be found all over. (ant-acids without dyes or flavors work) Limestone, Texas Holey Rock, Aragonite sand, crushed coral, cuttle bones for birds, eggshells, agricultural lime...
Dan ;) i ordered some indian almond leaves for my 55 gallon partially planted tank. In the tank are 5 angelfish, 8 platy juveniles, 2 yomo danios, 1 celestial pearl danio, 1 bristlenose pleco, 2 nerite snails. 2 amazon swords, microswords, staurogyne repens, java fern, and hygrophilia. When i receive my indian almond leaves how many leaves should i add into the hang on the back filter. Theres no carbon in it except the ceramic stones that grow beneficial bacteria. I dont want my water to turn super dark. Can you do a video with using those leaves? I don have a piece of driftwood in there but the water isnt yellow looking. Got it from petco in the city i live in. Also will the tannins hurt those plants that i have in there? I think my water's ph is 7. I live in riverside county in California, USA, and our water ph is 7. Oh btw. I dont have any powerheads in my tank. I do have a sponge filter, and two hang on the back filters. One is a fluval 50 and the other is a topfin 20. No carbon just media to grow beneficial bacteria. Anyways i heard that indian almond leaves help cure bacterial diseases in fish. Like finrot. Im currently treating 3 of my angelfish for finrot.
I have the same thing going on with High PH (8+)...Added Driftwood and Peat Moss...The tank looks like a cuppa tea with no milk and the PH hasn't budged....So What I do for now is Drip dose White Vinegar water mix to keep it at 7.5 (1 drip per 5 secs...40gl breeder 3 weeks old...I'm going to re do it in a few weeks but this time I'm doing a dirty tank...That should really help...What with soaking wood with tape water...Chlorine like Bleach turns back to salt after time... Chlorine for the most part 24hrs if the water has been circulating...Bleach takes a lot longer due to it holding a charge longer
Dan Hiteshew OK thanks a lot for the advice. Just wondering if the rise of ammonia was because I killed all beneficial bacteria in the tank or if it was the drift wood
Is it whitish and kinda fuzzy and slimy at the same time? If so, it's perfectly normal on new driftwood. It's some kind of fungus and will go away on it's own over time. Nothing to worry about.
sink is not problem if not sink i can use stone to press driftwood. my question is can i make driftwood without boil the wood? only soak n clean the wood in cold water for some weeks process.
You can, but it won't be sterilized. You may bring algae or some other contaminate into the tank if you don't boil it, but I've got lots of pieces that I just scrubbed with a brush and rinsed under tap water.
might attach some anubias to it too...maybe either tie them to the wood or superglue them...plus will anubias Nana be ok in a tank full of fancy goldfish?
No. Tannins are actually tannic acid, so it lowers your pH, but doesn't raise ammonia. If your pH drops below about 6.8, the ammonia converts to harmless ammonium.
yeah , I think tank raised fish can be kept in a wide pH range (alot of people would disagree) but wild caught and f1 fish , pH is important but once a fish has generations of being kept and bred in a Aquarium environment... pH at neutral give👆 or take👇 is just fine...
