Hey I am a slightly experienced aquarium addict and I've always been able to keep a nice smooth running tank for the most part but I have had a problem lately that just wont seem to go away. My water in my tank has been turning a slight brown/yellow color. It doesn't seem to be hurting my fish at all cause they are all in good health and i do some water changes and the water clears up but it keeps coming back. I speculate its because of a new piece of driftwood I bought at petsmart and put in, but how long could it stain the water? I also wanna know if it could end up hurting my fish in the long run if i don't solve the problem asap. Thank in advance for the help.

Duece,
this is a common thing with driftwood, it will eventually go away once the wood has become completely saturated with water and has seasoned and adjusted to the tank. it can take a month or so for this too happen, i have never seen it hurt the fish, but if you do minor water changes every other day it should keep the water clarity up and get rid of the coloration. when ever i am going to set up a tank for someone and they request driftwood i soak the piece in one of the large tubs i use for moving fish from one location to the next, i also use these tubs to seed the water in brand new tank setups, lol i just take 20 gal of water from my tank and put it in the new tank as a seed and it jump starts the bio cycle. anyways back to the topic, i let the driftwood soak for two weeks changing out the water every other day this keeps the wood in fresh water for the entire time and seems to do well with drawing out that brown coloration. i usually use very hot water to start with then let it set over night and the next morning i drain out the old water and start with fresh HOT water. if you do go this route be sure to use a dechlorinator as wood will absorb the chlorine out of the tap water and could effect your tank when you put it back in there.

Hope this helps
Brandon

LOL it seems as if i spend way too much time on here as i have become predictable, WOOOOO i guess it's true that when you find a passion that it has the ability to consume some time, however constructive it is. i don't mind being predictable or spending some of my time on this site, spreading the good word about aquariums and the peace they bring in too ones life, it's kind of a goal of mine, i feel that the world would be much more peaceful if people would take five minutes out of their day to slow down and watch the fish, instead of taking them at a glance and dismissing their wondrous nature and their habits and personalities.

Brandon

I'm not sure I would bleach anything going into a fish tank, but in my experience, new wood can take up to three months to stop acting like a giant tea bag. Don't worry about it and just do periodic water changes.