What to Do When Your Aquarium Water Turns Brown After Adding Driftwood | Will It Hurt Your Fish?

Hello Fellow Fish Keepers!
In this video we talk about what to do when your fish tank water turns brown after adding driftwood.
Want to learn how to clear cloudy water? Check out this video: • Cloudy Water in a Fish...
Will driftwood lower aquarium pH: • Does Driftwood Lower A...
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Thanks for watching!

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Want to learn how to clear cloudy water? Check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWfXXpdnoKd_fsk Will driftwood lower aquarium pH: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4a3dmqXbZqlqLc Also, our new shirts can be found at: www.primetimeaquatics.com/merch For the latest in the fish room check us out on Instagram primetime_aquatics

[@seriousreview8371]

Haha i actually know this because i bought drift wood you gotta let that soak for like half a month after boiling it with salt then boil it with no salt over annd over untill it stops releasing tannins

[@cole3967]

I 🤔 there is a 'clear' solution, without the nice brown tint? Used Almond leaves for tannins, 👌effect and benefits for South American dwarf cichlids, really got the Cacatuoides into spawning 😄

[@siandibley9137]

I didn't actually realize this would happen after adding drift wood, I just wanted to make sure that it was safe for the fish as it took me off guard this morning after my tank change 😂

[@audrisampson]

I saw the title of this video and had to giggle. People want to get rid of the brown water and here I am buying tons of driftwood, leaves and seedpods to make my water more brown then Tea LOL.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I like blackwater tanks too. :-)

[@user-dx7tq7qf1m]

bro... u could just add some dry banana leaves or dry almond leaves or even dry mango leaves to water that you are going to use for the further water changes... it really tans the water.... im using this trick over seven years and my fishes love them... cheap and best..

[@Jonny0651]

All these I lOvE mY BrOwN water comments. I like it too, but I like the bright colors of my fish more. Colors are much easier to see in clear water

[@ml.9417]

They can have their opinions lol.

[@bigsur370]

@@ml.9417lmfao fr

[@tychau100]

Man thanks a lot. I was stressing out about my tank turn yellow, now I feel so much better now. Thank you you make my day🤙

[@jimjimmyjam8242]

This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you for the video.

[@phreakerbythespeaker9902]

Thank you for your knowledge and videos. Your vids and my aquariums keep me sane in MN.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Thank you!

[@vanrixhobbies873]

Very informative and helpful, thanks bro! 👍👌

[@kingpancake9364]

Thanks so much! I'm cycling a tank right now for an axolotl and this was defiantly very helpful!

[@annaflis9551]

Thank you for this! I'm a new fish person and have done tons of research on setting up my aquarium properly before adding any fish. I did add driftwood and panicked when the water turned brown, but is still clear. At first I hated it, but the darker look is actually growing on me.. This video was super helpful with explaining! Thanks so much!

[@MorphedWombat]

Same with me first time with driftwood came to my tank this morning and it’s a brown color.. I was worried at first because obviously it was new to me but I do dig the brownish water as long as it doesn’t hurt my fish

[@drfter240sx]

Funny I’m about to add drift wood to my tank, great video

[@themiddlething]

Thank you, this video has reassured me about a piece of driftwood I've been planning to add to my new tank!

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Good luck!

[@dc_andrade]

Thank you sir! “Cleared” things up for me!😂🙏

[@OfficialJaNeyJohnson]

Yeah I added drift wood to my 55 gallon and it has turned dark, so I’m here taking notes 📝💜💖

[@danielledarlingelisa7896]

It was realy helpfull video. I appreciate it. Thank you.❤️

[@HeathenOverlander]

Jason cracking me up! "Decisions have to be made."

[@OZtheShark]

Thank you for this video!

[@victoriascotthome9448]

I love you guys so much. You’re a life saver. I just made driftwood at home, and I was starting to freak out.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Thank you!

[@eastcoastfishingchannel451]

Thanks for the info 👍

[@TaSSAdunAiur]

Man, I like how you talk and explain. GG! You got a brand new subscriber :)

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Thanks for being here!

[@atkinsnatureaquariums3552]

In 1 of our betta tanks we were having trouble keeping tannins for long term. We had lots of floating plants and the whole tank is planted so I believe the plants were sucking it up. In a different betta tank that had no floating plants and less plants I noticed tannins lasted longer. When I did water changes I boiled almond leaf tea bags and diluted it with declorinated tap water.

[@Carlmasters89]

Cheers pal I’ve got that problem with it naw . Thanks for the good information.

[@hazelsmith2]

Thanks for this.💜💜💜

[@gravenstijngiovanni695]

Great information vids 🙏🙏 Starting the hobby and Learning alot ..wished i found this channel earlier

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Thanks for being here!

[@rangrejsajid2732]

Thnks for the information 😀

[@dolphinliam888]

Initially it's a little dark, but over time it lightens. I live in a hard water area and some tannin in the water is so beneficial in softening my local water. I actually like the look if you choose pinkish lighting where you can control the spectrum, hygger are good at this. In all, I'm a fan of slightly brown water. I've also found it reduces algae problems too. Indeed, some people even add peat granules in their cannister filters to create the natural look.

[@unusualaquariumecosystems5805]

Interesting idea.

[@aquamind9996]

Chemical filtration like carbon or purigen will also remove some tannins from your water

[@bennettfamily8874]

Awsome thank you 😻

[@MrJohnblaine]

Thanks dude❤

[@marypaigeflynn4512]

I've learned to embrace the tannins.. I do a lot of water changes so I don't worry about it too much.. I like the health benefits too.. when I first put my Driftwood in it,was really over powering and I soaked my wood for a week and then boiled it. By accident I realized how good purigen works 😂 when I added it to my filter one time.. right now all I have is my guppies, bettas, shrimp and corydoras... So I believe they all like it 😁 I've been using Indian almond leaves and elder cones periodically too.. thanks for another great video and explaining tannins! I hope you and mrs. Primetime have an amazing weekend... It's about time to see all of her Nano wall again.. I never get enough 👍 much love guys ❤️🙏✌️

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

That's a good point! A nice way to keep the tannins going - almond leaves, elder cones. :-)

[@markthigpen4098]

Extremely helpful because I was freaking out for a second 🙃

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Glad you’re not freaking out anymore!

[@RealJLP]

I appreciate the video - btw - instead of staining my bathroom tub - a better idea would be to soak it outside in a trash can. One of those big cans. I live in FL where it’s hot all year - so if I put my wood outside in a big trash can - it would soak up all those tannins and the water stays relatively warm because it’s already 80 degrees here.

[@erichaley88]

Thank you for the info! I just added drift wood for the first time to my aquarium. I suspected it might be tannins, but didn't know what effects on the aquarium that it might have. My wife likes the darker water look, but I like the cleaner water look. I'm the one who maintains it....so I'll be doing a few more frequent water changes. She can eny the look while it's still there.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Cool - the brown will decrease a little with each water change. :-)

[@AstuteObservations]

Just started my first Cichlid tank (SA), and i have a huge piece of arching wood as the centerpiece, after about 5 days my water was this yellowish/brown color, and i thought i messed something up lol. Your video was the first to pop up, so for that i thank you! I actually do not mind the more natural look, it is a bit harder to see the fish but i think the fish like the tannins like you mentioned.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Enjoy it while it lasts :-)

[@tball5677]

I do nothing. I sit back and enjoy the natural look of dark water while it lasts.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Me too!

[@jordanpillay8749]

Do you guys mean it goes away by itself ?

[@mr.bulldops1348]

Pretty sure with partial water changes

[@MorphedWombat]

I have this right now.. first time with driftwood came here but now I know it’s not harmful.. truthfully it looks nice so ima leave it as well

[@mr.bulldops1348]

@@MorphedWombat I’m so tired of the brown water look… my cage never looks clean especially when I do water changes and makes the water Opaque wish my water would stop doing this but after 3 months it’s still just as strong as when I first added the freaking spider wood…

[@supertitantsunami9974]

I find that using a good quality activated carbon will remove these tannins If you want to keep the brown color, use aquarium peat moss in the filter

[@farmert9679]

Brown water is cool. Have it in my ten gallon tank with sunfish (Elassoma Gilberti)

[@25anomaly]

I appreciate the video, I don’t like my brown water I ended up with it pretty bad even after boiling the driftwood for hours.

[@1domcouk]

Useful advice. What is the beautiful cichlid (I think) at 2:30mins with gorgeous blue eyes? Your vids have been extremely useful on a whole range of important topics. Keep up the good work!

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Cryptoheros nanoluteus!

[@timduenas2120]

Mine was brown but it was crystal clear brown, So I'll just put it back in because you said it's ok😁

[@sgaray87933]

I’m digging the brown water. We just added live plants too and it looks more natural.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I like the look too. :-)

[@tateblom4311]

Thank you this is helpful, my driftwood turned the water red which I kinda liked cause it looked like a tea stained aquarium but then the next day it turned super dark brown 😂

[@patriciac8488]

Great help I just set up new tank. got a beautiful driftwood and this happened.🖤🐠

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Enjoy it while it lasts. It will go away as you do more water changes. :-)

[@worddunlap]

I boiled a piece of Mopani wood 6 times. I boiled it for 2 hours, let it cool, drained it and repeated 6 times. Each time lots of coffee colored water was poured out. The last bioling I added a vitamin C tablet, boiled for 4 hours and let cool overnight. You'd imagine after such a cooking it would be fork tender but it was still solid as a rock. It still has tannins but far less. It has not drasitcaly altered the PH.

[@MinxInSinx]

The brown water helped my betta fish so much! I have a bunch of live plants & he was still trying to fight himself.. the brown water makes it so he can't see his reflection as well. 🥰 I was very concerned with how brown the water got. *ended up doing 20% water change the next morning because I couldn't even see with the light on! 🤦🏻‍♂️🤯 Pleased to know the brown water is beneficial (: tannins 🙌🥰

[@DankDaHerbalist]

Tannins will never leave my tanks. You like ur rock piles i love the driftwood and beside u can't tell unless u pull water from the tank

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Haha. I like rock piles and tannins. :-)

[@bambimothra]

I can’t find any information on cork bark and fish tanks. I would love to see a video of you using cork bark or talking about it

[@bjornjoseph]

I aftually like it with the brown tint

[@oliwiam7255]

Thank you! Ive been wondering whats wrong with my newly set palundarium as the water turned so brown almost immediately. I got my driftwood from dads old aquarium and didnt wash it. Perhaps thats the case because i added all the bacteria and stuff

[@miked6335]

That big piece of wood that left the brown stains in my bathtub is going to hurt when my wife bounces it off my head!

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Let's count that as the cost of fish keeping. Haha

[@DJZofPCB]

My driftwood fit in a 5 gallon bucket, I filled the bucket and changed the water every week, it took 2.5 months of soaking and releasing, and wire brush scrubbing the muck. key is to soak a long time.

[@jdwayne00]

If you don't want to stain your bathtub for those big pieces you can go to Lowes\HD\etc and get a big trash can. You can get a 30 gallon one pretty close in size to a bathtub for about $35

[@User-fc5qc]

I have the aqueon 3 gallon filter for my 5gallon betta tank do you think that the carbon in that filter is sufficient? I really like the look of the brown water but I want to make sure it isn't harmful

[@bublt4me]

If I used Purigen lighten the tint, would I be able to keep the helpful botanicals?

[@christinbreezy2284]

Thank you for this because I couldn't figure out what the heck was happening.

[@paladinras7970]

I have a waalstad method tank and this helped a lot I just wanted to know if they hurt the fish ty

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Usually it works just fine.

[@pungr]

My fish love it and the brown water seems to fade fairly fast.

[@bebbles103]

Yo thanks for this, I’m new to keeping fish and I was recently upgrading my bettas tank to a more natural tank. (Trying to make the switch to live pants and drift wood, etc.) and ngl I panicked a bit when I put the piece of wood in the water turned brown.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

It will go away as you do water changes. The betta will like it though :-)

[@jasminjaidov6490]

try and find a very big bucket. sometimes pet stores who keep things in bulk have a few to spare

[@gardockis.playground]

Hoping for Fathers day my family buys me a PrimeTime T shirt🙏

[@marypaigeflynn4512]

I hope your wish comes true.. happy early Father's day!

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

That would be cool! :-)

[@gardockis.playground]

Its working! Wife is online shopping the PTA site now!

[@jimmyhintz8850]

Gardocki ‘s Playground your wife is buying you something?

[@ert-wert]

Used organic soil, it has lots of pieces of wood in it. I now own a very brown water 40b. Looks beautiful with giant bronze crypts

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Nice!

[@mariscion2124]

Just added two big pieces of driftwood to my 20 tall :), I couldnt boil it, so I soaked it in hot(but not boiling) water in a bucket (while changing it out once a day) for 3 days instead, the last change was just ever so slightly brown but honestly I think it should be fine! I hope my fish like the new hiding spots!

[@missylee5]

How did it work out? Did the water still turn brown?

[@NiX_aKi]

And humic acid too.

[@willipede1873]

It lowers PH but it still looks bad. Its as if someone use my fish tank as a toilet bowl. EDIT the filter does help but you can still see the yellow water

[@Abdxcted]

I'm just now coming back into the fish keeping hobby after a long time, and I'm currently working on a freshwater Molly tank. I currently have a few live plants and two pieces of spiderwood which in turn released tannin into my water, I don't love the look and will be doing frequent water changes to get rid of some of that, but my question is, will the tannin affect the ph of my water? I know mollies need a ph of 7.5 to 8.5 and I wanted to be sure the tannin wouldn't affect that.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

It depends on your KH. The higher the KH the less likely the tannins will impact pH.

[@sammygonzalezjr.9858]

Good afternoon I was wondering how I can clean allergy off the plants and decorations inside a aquarium right to reuse them back in my aquarium your thoughts

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Sometimes that can be hard. I know there have been times when I just had to toss fake plants because it would have taken too long to clean them off. You could bleach decorations (10% bleach solution) and then rinse them off?

[@Ktulu-sd5ev]

What about a pinkish tinge to water ? It’s mostly clear looking in the tank but put in a bucket it looks pink the only thing I did was lightly flush one of the canister filters it’s got me stumped any help would be appreciated

[@Metal.Is.A.Adicshun]

2.46 top left corner, that's a shellie tank with floaties, right? Brown water for me is awful to look at. I'm all for natural and I don't care for crystal but brown? Nein, nicht für mich! And another thing. If you're really serious about getting rid of tannins, put the wood in the car and drive the car into a lake. For pre soaking, obvs....

[@iampoojakiran]

your tank looks amazing! But at 1:15 i see the floaters and long roots are blocking alot of light, how do your anubias and other plants at the bottom of driftwood deal with that?

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

We tend to clean out the duckweed on a weekly basis so it generally works fine.

[@adam7260]

I have some drift wood and I did a lot of boiling with it and it still releasing tannins how long will it take to remove the tannins

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

If you do weekly water changes chances are you will see a noticeable difference each week.

[@Naudir505]

I bought a pretty big root to my aquarium, some synthetic moss prepped with seeds was glued on to parts of the root, it looked really beautiful. And those seeds are growing some nice heart-shaped small leafs. Because of the prepped seeds glued on there I assumed that the root have been pre-soaked or boiled beforehand because it was pretty pricy compared to mangrove roots or similar. But I was so wrong, the day after the tank was so brown that you couldn't see 15cm thru the water... 🤯 I did a 70% waterchange because I wanted to keep some good bacteria that have been growing for a week time. Then I waited another 3 days before I purchased the fish. You can see the background 60cm in, but it's still really brown cloudy. I know it's gonna go away after several waterchanges, but I'm getting greedy. Can I change the water every 2 days or so without harming the fish and plants? The aquarium is 80liters, I have 2 ancistrus, 10 neontetra, 7 guppy and 2 nerite snails :p

[@spandexmicrophone]

Doc, sorry to be off topic but I just bought a couple firemouths and wanted to see what you thought would be good tank mates? They're about 2 inches long now.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Well, I guess it depends on the size of the tank? I like fish like convicts, gouramis, severums, large schooling fish like buenos aires, congo tetras, columbian tetras, BN plecos, synodontis cats all might be options?

[@cole3967]

Just let it be..let it be...😄

[@Boss-zo4lw]

Maybe if you have a spare HOB fill it with say carbon etc and just let it run as a Tannin remover while your waiting on finishing your setup?

[@lisamclaughlin5951]

I have a planted 180 gallon tank with a tree trunk and it's roots in the tank. My tap water is high in ammonia so I don't want to do many water changes, I use a sponge filter. Can i put charcoal in a stock and an air stone to get rid of tannins?

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

You can try carbon - it might take a little longer, but it should help.

[@fanyoktavia1703]

so i can just add tea to aquarium for tannin?

[@anthonybrown8158]

I soak my in rub maid tub. For weeks at time that way. I can get good Bacteria. Grow on it before add to tank. Just do small water change in tub every week so you don’t kill the Bacteria grow on it. Seems to work well

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Nice idea!

[@brettjamesmiller]

It’s easy to solve this problem I have a native tank and is got wild snails and a small colony of zebra muscles glass stays clean and the water clear

[@adamgatt719]

If you like the tannin look in your tank, I have found that Mopani wood is the biggest leech of tannins and will turn your water into a tea colour.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I agree - it seems to turn the water the most brown compared to other types of driftwood.

[@MothsMusicBox]

I wish I would've known this before getting a huge like 5 pound piece of mopani wood because I found this video after noticing the color change 😭

[@EpicConspiracy]

You enjoy it. That’s what happens.

[@WatermelonMainChannel]

If I have a new tank- could putting in the drift wood help get the nitrate amd phosphates where they should be?

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I don't think it will have much an impact either way.

[@asiamclaughlin9809]

I have 2 small pieces of mopani betta wood in my 5g tank - why are my live plants turning brown??? are they dying from the wood?

[@worldexplorers9751]

hello sir i have a vertical standing tank with dimension of( L=25" w=14" H=48" all side mention in inch) it is 290litre tank i would like to hear which filter should i use for my tank it is very difficult to clean it here and there so do suggest a filter for vertical aquarium tank I m really tired cleaning and maintaining the tank

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I think you might have the best luck with either sponge filters or a canister filter with an extended intake tube that reaches to the bottom.

[@ricodegallo3060]

👍

[@markhunter2244]

Quite like the brown colourisation caused by tannins, but do prefer the water to be crystal clear 🤓

[@mrsprimetimeaquatics5497]

🙌🤛🤓✨💦

[@greenterrorkeeper5187]

I like the brown look! Just not the green haha

[@zebra5591]

I have a decent size of drift wood, it's winter here in New England, so I have a pot of water on the wood stove, put that drift wood in that and killing birds by adding moisture to the air and "boiling" that wood

[@conman20000]

For a large piece of driftwood for tanks 125 and bigger, you have to boil for almost a day to get any real results.

[@azuwhr]

So I bought driftwood that’s for an aquarium. I boiled it for a half an hour at a time then cooled it and then boiled it again and did this for hours. The wood is waterlogged, but I put it into a 5 gallon bucket and overnight it still turned the water a light brown. When will it stop turning water brown so I can put it in my tank and not have this problem

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

It could be a while, but it goes away over time. Enjoy it while the tannins are still there. 😃

[@1uhot426]

The brown look grew on me lol now after i did a water change, i dont notice it when looking directly at the tank, but u can tell from the sides. Its weird lol

[@ironwolph]

Jason I have added Driftwood and had the water turned brown which does not concern me this was a great video. My question is I bought spiderwood from the store and put it in my tank the next morning it was completely covered with a whitish clear basically jelly substance I rinsed it off and put the wood back in and it came back what could this be? Thank you

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

That is a fungal or bacterial coating. I haven't seen it ever hurt our fish - just looks bad for a week or two. :-)

[@ironwolph]

@@PrimeTimeAquatics Thank you very much for replying to my question. It does not seem to be effecting my fish either and i have guppy fry and small plecos. I took the wood back out to soak in water for a bit, see if that helps decrease it because its disgusting looking.

[@tylercrowder9973]

I have a five gallon betta tank cycling, and Its tea colored now lol. I'm hoping by the time my Betta arrives it will lighten. I don't mind a slight tint, and I know it's great for bettas, but I'd like to be able to SEE my fish 😂

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Over time water changes will get rid of it.

[@DCN2010]

I keep tannins in my betta tanks and my cherry shrimp tanks. What about guppies? Would tennis have benefits for guppies?

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I think most fish can benefit from them provided the KH isn't low and the tannins aren't lowering the pH for fish that like a high pH.

[@juli8vdberg562]

How about adding ADA water clearer liquid? I bought one, used it in newly cycling tanks and it ruined it all by creating plums of dust everywhere and sitting on the bottom, so I don't do that anymore, but wondering if adding that to a tank with some tannin, would change things?

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I'm not sure? My first thought is it probably wouldn't help? Either way water changes would remove it though.

[@juli8vdberg562]

@@PrimeTimeAquatics I added some of the ADA liquid water clearer to the 30liter tank and one hour later crystal clear although some light plums of dust sits on moss and other plants, just a bit, I can clean up that when washing the filter again... Cycling now, no intention to add fish but only much later either one Betta or an Amazon Puffer... Only one... But it is a nano planted tank inspired by Flamenco (driftwood I found resembling two dancers!) and using Tropica mosses and plants only.. 😊

[@jcababe76]

Ive had a large piece of driftwood to my 40 gallon about 2 months ago and I still keep getting brown water. Doing my fourth water change. Three plants and no fish (waiting for the water to stay clear)

[@user-mo4wt9gk9y]

I put the driftwood in a bucket for a month and switched water weekly. Then, I boiled it several times and it still turned the tank brown. The color does not bother me but I'm concerned bc changed the PH to 6 and I have a betta and a nerite snail (don't want it to destroy the shell). I changed the water and removed the wood and the PH is still at a 6. Anyone have suggestions?

[@pokesmotlots]

So I've added a 6" x 2" cholla wood for my shrimp, and even after boiling it 4 or 5 times it still managed to tint my water quite a bit. Is it normal for cholla wood to do this? So will adding some more plants help clear it up some?

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

It sure is. It will go away as you do your weekly water changes.

[@SeasonalSisters1630]

I need help...i had this molave wood or Vitex parviflora(scientific name) it looks really2 good...if i saoked it can i use this kind of wood for my fishtank?

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I'm not sure. I haven't heard of anyone using it?

[@Nicole-mn2qe]

I boil my wood to get rid of the tannins from it. Other than that, I try to add tannins from Indian Almond leaves, Alder Cones, and Mulberry leaves. I tried to deliberately make my water brown, I love the tea look to the water. Black water set ups are beautiful.