Enquiry on water color

[FlyingFish]

hi..im new here and just learning more abt planted tanks..ive set up my 1 footer tank and currently still running in.. im using biohome on my hang on filter.. my soil bed is abt 2'' with base fert ard 1 cm...i cant help noticing that the color of my tank is a bit yellowish..could anyone care to explain whats wrong..and any way for me to achieve crystal clear water

[David]

Do you happen to have driftwood in your tank?.....newly purchased driftwood tends to stain the water yellowish brown for awhile......if not, did you purchase the red or grey biohome, .......cause the red may stain the water alittle bit but its hardly noticable.....

[juggler]

Or it could be from your soil. Some types may still contain dead plant matter that could stain the water brown.

[kc]

I got the same answers whenever I asked this question too! From my observation, all water from tanks are slightly tinted yellowish regardless of the whether there are any foreign objects or not. The degree of colour will depend on how dirty it is.

[FlyingFish]

okies thx...i have no driftwood yet...yet its slightly yellowish..anyway is it advisable to place activated carbon? i was told it wont be good for planted tank

[David]

Hello Juggler....

How are you....did you happened to send me an email regarding the Osiris?.....if you got it from Teo, its the real deal.

Hello KC

It will always be that standard answer because the original question did not specify what is in the tank. Water in Singapore is generally clear and it usually yellowish due to dirty or rusted water pipe.

[gorilla83]

btw what's the difference between red and grey biohome???
how come the red one is more expensive than the grey one?

[Wzierbovsky]

I'm using the Biohome Plus (red?) biological filter pellets, and in my case at least, it didn't stain the water in my tank.

I'm guessing it's more expensive because it contains higher surface area than the grey ones and it comes with nutrients - but that's what the box says.

In any case, it seems to work pretty well. I used it on my tank and the ammonia levels went to zero in around 3 weeks I think. Could be because I chucked in some bacteria supplements too though.

[seed75]

well, time could be a factor too... sometime when bacteria bloom u might have such symtom as well. have you try changing the water...

[|squee|]

The carbon might remove trace elements needed by plants. Varied sucesses have been reported with use of AC to remove the tannin colour.

[seed75]

Don't really encourage carbon too... afterall it might not really help to take care of bacteria bloom.

I would still encourage water change...