manzanita and cloudy water?

[aquabee]

Hey all. My 20 long's been set up for about 2 days now, and yesterday afternoon I added a couple pieces of manzanita, which are being held down by 2 rocks from another one of my tanks. This morning the water is really cloudy (not yellow or brown, just hazy). The only other thing I did was crank the heater up to 88F.

Is this cloudiness from the driftwood? Never had this happen before, except due to a bloom. Feels like it's way too early for a bacteria bloom though, unless the rocks from one of my cycled tanks introduced the bacteria. Thoughts?

[sunkenmetal]

Sounds like a bacteria bloom. When i got my twenty gallon I used some substrate and some decorations from my 56 gallon to help the cycle along. 3 days after setting it up i got a bacteria bloom. it went away after about a week. Then a week later it had another bloom.

Is the wood cured? Did you soak it before putting it into your tank?

[aquabee]

The wood is pre-soaked, I was told, and sandblasted. So I didn't pre-soak it but just washed it really well. I even scrubbed the aquarium rocks clean in hot tap water cuz I didn't want the crazy algae from the nano getting into the 20. Weird. In any case, I covered the tank with some sheets and am leaving the light off for the next 48 hours at least. Hopefully if it's bacteria, it'll chill the heck out.

[rice1029]

Manzanita is notorious for this. I remember this stuff. Looks cool just has some initial wierdness...just temporary. large water changes and carbon will definitely help. If your using a canister filter you could put a bag of purigen in and it will take care of it quick.

[aquabee]

Manzanita is notorious for this. I remember this stuff. Looks cool just has some initial wierdness...just temporary. large water changes and carbon will definitely help. If your using a canister filter you could put a bag of purigen in and it will take care of it quick.

Oh man. Well it's good to know that it'll hopefully go away. I'll do a big water change tomorrow. Any reason why Purigen can't be used in an AquaClear HOB filter in a mesh bag?

[rice1029]

You could definitely try it. I just never have. As long as your getting some good flow...

[sunkenmetal]

Just make sure you you get the right media bag or else all your purigen will end up in the tank. Or buy the purigen that already comes in the bag..

[rice1029]

Just make sure you you get the right media bag or else all your purigen will end up in the tank. Or buy the purigen that already comes in the bag..

This is definitely true. Purigen is really small.

[aquabee]

Thanks guys. I like the Fluval mesh bags because almost nothing goes through it except water. They're kinda hard to find though. The water actually looks better this morning, and the pieces are almost completely waterlogged. I'll do a water change today as well and see if I can get by without the Purigen. Trying to save every buck I can!

[sunkenmetal]

Thanks guys. I like the Fluval mesh bags because almost nothing goes through it except water. They're kinda hard to find though. The water actually looks better this morning, and the pieces are almost completely waterlogged. I'll do a water change today as well and see if I can get by without the Purigen. Trying to save every buck I can!

Purigen is pretty pricey but you can reuse it. Unless the tannins in the water bother you I wouldn't bother with it.

I have found well I should say my wife found some bags in china town that are 99 cents and the purigen wont pass through.

Just keep doing water changes its probably the cheapest and easiest way to clear up your water.

[aquabee]

Thanks. I'd do a water change but they shut off our water for a while to fix a broken pipe. So far it looks better though.

[sunkenmetal]

One of those hundreds of busted water mains around Houston...?

[imagirlgeek]

I'm just going to jump in here and mention something that I saw when I put some manzanita in one of my tanks. It might not happen with yours, but since the tank went cloudy I thought I'd mention it.

When I put some manzanita in my tank, a few days later, it had this blob-ish (is that a word? ), white stuff growing on it. It's pretty gross looking, and if you take the wood out of the tank, it has a really strong odor. IF you see this, don't panic (like I did). It's a fungus and it's common. Some fish eat it, and apparently after a while it goes away. I didn't wait for that to happen though. I removed it and scrubbed it off, then put it back in the tank. I did this until it quit coming back. Apparently it's very similar to the fungus that grows on old food in an aquarium.

Anyway, I know you haven't seen this, but I just wanted to go ahead and let you know it's okay....in case you do end up seeing this stuff. Can you tell it traumatized me a little? )

[aquabee]

I'm just going to jump in here and mention something that I saw when I put some manzanita in one of my tanks. It might not happen with yours, but since the tank went cloudy I thought I'd mention it.

When I put some manzanita in my tank, a few days later, it had this blob-ish (is that a word? ), white stuff growing on it. It's pretty gross looking, and if you take the wood out of the tank, it has a really strong odor. IF you see this, don't panic (like I did). It's a fungus and it's common. Some fish eat it, and apparently after a while it goes away. I didn't wait for that to happen though. I removed it and scrubbed it off, then put it back in the tank. I did this until it quit coming back. Apparently it's very similar to the fungus that grows on old food in an aquarium.

Anyway, I know you haven't seen this, but I just wanted to go ahead and let you know it's okay....in case you do end up seeing this stuff. Can you tell it traumatized me a little? )

Oh man, that would be traumatizing. It happened to me years ago with a piece of driftwood I had in my angels tank in California. My pleco ate it all up like it was a steak dinner and I thought he was going to die! LOL! Thanks for the heads up!

[SOULJAA]

Sunkenmetal...where did your wife find such bags at...I could really use some!!!