Yellow water

[FER2006]

The other day I saw the water of my tank in pail and it looks like yellow water, my fish are healty and the water is clear but is this normal?, what can I do?.

Thanks.
FER

[ihopss]

Add or use some carbon.

[luke33]

Yep, run some carbon, it'll be clear in a day.

[fat-tony]

3rd on carbon. May take a couple days but it will go right clear

[FER2006]

Ok thanks!. What does this happen?

FER

[mdelcomyn]

Carbon absorbs/adsorbs minute impurities in the water which make it yellow

[bpd964]

Carbon..!

[djcerna]

I would slowly run the carbon.
I've seen people bleach their SPS corals by running carbon very quickly as they light shock the SPS.
David

[USC-fan]

ozone....then carbon

[danferd2002]

Are you sure it wasnt something in the bucket that leeched out into the water?

[FER2006]

Thanks again.

Danferd2002 yes I'm sure, the bucket was empty and dry, also was white.

By the way can i put carbon for freshwater or there are special for marine tanks?

FER

[miguel242]

Ok thanks!. What does this happen?

I believe the yellow color is due to tannins which are phenolic compounds that are derived from organic matter. This is much more prevelant in freshwater tanks that use driftwood as decorative pieces. Just to let you know, since you asked. Also, as others have suggested running carbon is good and a water change also helps.

[miguel242]

Carbon can be used on either salt or fresh, unless it has ionic beads that absorb other things mixed in it which would/should be stated on the label.

[jackfrost]

Ozone vote here.

[digitydash]

I run kent carbon in my tank and never had a problem with my coral

[HBtank]

I believe the exact term for the yellowing compounds is "gelbstoff".

Tannins are specifically from plant matter like leaves and wood, and normally only found in freshwater. This should not be in a SW tank and are actually more brown. I have also had much less success removing them with carbon.

Gelbstoff is a loose term for yellowing compounds that are left after the nitrogen cycle, and are basically the final product of it. It is very narural and any tank will need to deal with it periodically.

You can remove it with water changes, carbon, ozone or other chemical medias.

I recommend carbon, it is very effective, proven and cheap.

[FER2006]

Thanks to all, I'll put the carbon the most quickly I find one, and tell you the progress.

The tank its 63g plus 23g sump.

Filtration:

1 Skimmer "NAUTILUS TE"

Circulation

2 SEIO M1100
1 mag drive 12 to move from the sump to the tank.

I don't have corals, only fish:

1 naso 6" (it's going to live in a bigger tank of a friend in December)
1 Watanabe AngelFish
1 Coral Beauty AngelFish
1 Flame AngelFish
5 green chromis viridis
2 Yellowtail DamcelFish
1 Forktail Blennie
1 Anthias Tuka (eating copepods)


How can i know how much carbon do I need for the tank?
FER
Thanks.

[ReefWreak]

Use the directions on the bottle of whatever carbon you end up going with, since it's FOWLR and you're not worried about bleaching corals.

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Just buy a bunch in bulk from twopartsolution.com. You might also consider running it in a media reactor like the TLF phosban reactor. No easy way to guess how much you need, just use as needed in terms of keeping water crystal clear.

[reef_doug]

FYI... I use 1-3/4c on 180g, so I would start with a 1/2 cup and change it out every 2 wks or so. Easy way is to get a filter media sock at Petsmart or somewhere. It's like a mesh bag with a draw string and lay it in the return chamber in the sump. Marineland black diamond is a good one at the major petstores, but many people get the twopartsolutions.com, that's really good stuff but you would need to buy volume and shipping.

Carbon is more effective when its new, so changing it every 2-3 wks is better than alot and have it sit for longer than 5 wks.

Your water will be crystal clear in 1-2 days.

Don't attempt ozone, not on a 36g tank and without a costly controller.... you will likely kill the fish.