MGOPM + EC = brown water?

940 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by BraveBuc, Apr 30, 2014

wootlaws

Discussion Starter · Apr 25, 2014

I have had my new substrate setup for over a month now with about 1" MGOPM and 1/2" of EC in my 20 gallon tank and been doing regular 20% WC every week since I set it up. I even started to add black carbon to see if it would clear the water but have not had much success. Should I just keep doing 20% WC and it will eventually clear up over more time or is there something I'm missing? I don't touch my plants or unroot any plants so I don't know why it's so muddy and brown looking not that I mind it at all I just can't see what's going on in the tank. Also I'm running a SunSun canister filter. Although my plants love this brownish water though because it has tons of nutrients and all the floating plants have roots growing almost 12" long almost going into the substrate! :icon_eek:

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BraveBuc

· #2 · Apr 25, 2014

Like tannin brown or diatom brown? I've got MGOPM capped with black diamond in two tanks. The bigger one is high light with stems and is messed with all the time. Actually, much of it no longer has much of a cap. The water is usually crystal clear. The smaller tank had some tannin looking water sometimes during the first month but looked fine after a 50% water change. I didn't bother filtering out the smaller pieces of wood in the MGOPM so figured it probably was tannins.

I don't know the answer to your question but maybe my above experience will help.

Do you have driftwood in the tank?

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wootlaws

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 25, 2014

Weird, def not diatom brown. I think it looks tannin brown like dirt is constantly leaching into the water column somehow but not huge chunks. Every time I open up the canister filter to clean the filters I rinse it with water it goes from complete brown to white about 10-20 rinses, that's how much brown tannins I'm talking about.

No driftwood either.

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Saltydog33

· #4 · Apr 29, 2014

I thought i read somewhere to do an inch of dirt and 2 of ec or sand or whatever? Either way a half inch cap sounds inadequate.

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wootlaws

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 29, 2014

Thanks, I'm guessing the EC is definitely not enough and leaking dirt somewhere. My whole canister filter was brown and completely muddy with all the filters completely clogged it's getting out of control. I'm going to the store to see what else I can find to cap off the EC.

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Saltydog33

· #6 · Apr 30, 2014

I would just get more EC just make it like at least an inch and a half.

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cjstl

· #7 · Apr 30, 2014

Every experiment I have done with MGOPM has ended that way, regardless of what I cap with. I know the people who use blasting sand say it holds it down, but I haven't had luck with gravel, play sand, or a mix of the two. Yes, the plants love it, but my wife screams, "Get that nasty thing off of my kitchen counter!!!"

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lauraleellbp

· #8 · Apr 30, 2014

I'd just get a few bags of Purigen and keep swapping them out to recharge. Between that and some bigger water changes, you should get the tannins under control before long.

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Saltydog33

· #9 · Apr 30, 2014

If he doesn't have driftwood what would release tannins?

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BraveBuc

· #10 · Apr 30, 2014

There has been a lot of chopped up half decomposed wood in the MGOPM that I've used.

Tannins and gas build up are the only issues I've had with the stuff.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

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