[manzpants92]

I just got everything set on my 20 gal. I have two stock lights on it so I'm right under 2wpg. I have 1-1.5" of dirt capped with .5-1" gravel. I filled the tank up last night and my water got super yellow and im guessing its obviously from the dirt underneath the gravel. I got a bunch of plants today (val, ludwigia, swords, rotala and such). I was planning on doing the Walstad method and she says to limit water changes.

Since my water is all really yellow should i do a big water change and try to clear up the water or leave things be for a while and let the plants settle in?

Help is much appreciated

 

[sp33drhno]

The water is being stained by tannins leaching from the dirt. You can do a water change to clear things up, but it probably won't last long. I'd imagine the dirt will continue leaching tannins for a while. The tannins won't harm the plants in any way.

 

[manzpants92]

Okay, so should i just leave things for a bit?

 

[Stinkypinky12]

depend if it bothers you or not. i hate the yellow water so do alot of changes to get rid of it fast. some people like it and try to keep it aparently

 

[lochaber]

I'd also guess it's mostly tannins from the soil. A certain amount are considered beneficial for a lot of tropical fish, especially South American ones, I believe. Plus, I think Walstad listed more then a couple benefits to planted aquaria from tannins.

Like Stinkypinky12 said, if it bothers you do a water change. I would think that most of the leaching would happen pretty quickly, and after a few water changes or so, it would take longer to turn yellow, or not turn quite as yellow or something. You could also try filtering with carbon, if you have some on hand, I believe that's supposed to be fairly effective at removing tannins.

Using a finer grained cap, like sand or something may help, but I don't think it will really matter much after a month or so.

 

[manzpants92]

awesome thanks for the help guys

 

[infamouz23]

You could also run Purigen in your tank to help with the tannins and an added benefit is that Purigen is rechargeable and can be used again.

 

[wkndracer]

tannins won't be a pita for very long, you've received good advice :thumbsup: