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hey this maybe a stupid question but i went to do a water change this morn and my water is brown i checked the water parimeters at the tap nothing has change i dont have a master test kit right now so i,m kinda limited so do i do the w/c or wait i don,t want my water too look like tea but my fish need clean water....... if i go to wally world and buy ditilled or spring will this change hurt my fish:#(

Last edited by deschazkody at 29-Sep-2005 09:45

Hi,
The switch from clear to brown water could be the result
of an outbreak of diatoms. This generally happens when
water changes have been ignored, the light is too low, and
there is an excess of silicates in the tank. This can
also happen if there are "dead" parts of the tank with
very little or no circulation.
Try doing 20% water changes, twice in a week, and give
the tank some more light. All this is said assuming that
you have not placed a new piece of driftwood in the tank.

Frank


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[font color="#800080"]Is it brown brown, or more yellow brown.

Any driftwood in the tank?
I have one tank with nothing but rocks and if I've been somewhat lax in my cleaning the water will have a more yellow/brown hue to it.


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Yes, new (and old) drift wood will color the water yellow. The drift wood leaches tanins into the water, thus coloring it. It does not happen over night, but you may have not noticed it untill it became very yellow/brown.

If it is the drift wood causing this, it will not harm the fish, not harm anything in the tank. It will not stain anything either. And changing with distilled/spring water, will not help in any other way as just doing the water changes with your normal tap water. In fact, it may cause more tanins to be release (distilled/spring water) as the water is more pure, and thus will help pull out the tanins quicker.

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There is always a bigger fish...

You might also solve the problem with a couple of weekly water changes, but if you have Driftwood, then it's something different.


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no this brown water is coming out of the tap its clearing up a little now but still is not back to clear yet

Rust? The water from the faucets in the buildings come out brownish red or rust colored. The house has filters for that reasons.

You might try adding charcol then. It will remove many things, and usually will help remove color problems associated with things like rust. You might also want to think about investing in an in line filter for your water. You can get those the hook on your faucet. They remove things like rust, chlorine, chloramine, and other heavy metals. It does not have to be an RO filter. Look for a carbon filter. Check at your local Lowe's or Home Depot, or other hardware stores.

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There is always a bigger fish...