# Removing Tannins



## jclee

I am sure that others have more efficient methods, but I've always relied on water changes and time. It doesn't do the job quickly, but it does do the job.


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## sohankpatel

I used purigen, you could just get a powerhead and hang the bag of purigen in front of it if you don't want to buy a hob


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## Diana

The power head has the same problem as a filter: the flow at the intake is strong enough to capture the shrimp. Put the sponge filter over the intake to spread out that force, or else get a hang on back filter and put the sponge over this intake, then purigen or activated carbon in the filter. 

You could remove the wood and do a few more soakings in as hot water as you can manage- changing the water often. 

You could change the water in the aquarium more often, still doing the smaller volume that the shrimp handle better. What about a daily 10%?


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## Nordic

Carbon will pull most of the tannins out, fill your filter, run i till the water clears up, then discard the carbon.


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## Hooked on fish

Nordic said:


> Carbon will pull most of the tannins out, fill your filter, run i till the water clears up, then discard the carbon.



Ditto

1 teaspoon per gallon will do nicely if you can fit it in there.


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## latchdan

Hooked on fish said:


> Ditto
> 
> 1 teaspoon per gallon will do nicely if you can fit it in there.


Its a sponge dual sponge filter i cant fill anything.

The wood is covered in moss so i dont want to remove it.

Would just floating charcoal or purigen in the tank do anything near the air bubble outake do anything


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## cpwebsite

Water changes and time are generally how you solve driftwood. If you want you can take out the piece of driftwood and go through this process to clean it: How To Clean Driftwood For Aquariums - Freshwater Nerds

It generally takes a week or two to clean the driftwood and have all of the tannins soak out.


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## latchdan

10% daily should be safe?


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## Nordic

Yeah, as long as you treat and prepare the water properly, so you are not adding to your problems. I use two hang on filters one side is just a bit of floss to keep the bigger particles out of the carbon, and a big wad of carbon folded in one of those disposable kitchen wipes, i.e. its a DIY cartridge made to fill the filter. I also cut a piece of the wipe and hang it on the outlet, so the water does not fall through the air, but flows over the cloth... this is a wonderful place for aerobic bacteria to live as only a thin skin of water runs over it and is exposed to air on both sides.... also it stops the noise of water falling and prevents air bubbles. I use it as a water scrubber or polisher, the other hang on filter is just packed normally. Mechanical filtration (grinding dirt down smaller and smaller) is your main friend in a planted aquarium.

Remember the holes in the carbon gets clogged up pretty quickly and cant be washed clean again, so there is no point keeping it in the tank for too long. There is probably no reason to use carbon on an established clean tank as long as new water is treated first.

Don't you maybe have a small box filter you could use?... the kind that runs of an air pump? There are many DIY instructions for cobbling together your own filters on the net.


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## Hooked on fish

This DIY filter would work with good carbon pellets or Purigen beads


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## nchmi28

I just took all of the tannins out by hanging a bag of Purigen in my tank right by the out flow of my filter. As long as most of the tank water flows through it, it should work.


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## mikluha

I soaked small driftwood pieces (10 gal driftwood is small) in toilet tank. 
It gets flushed few times a day, it doesn't take any extra space, nobody cares about tannins in toilet.... Few weeks was more than enough


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## roguewarior0

I have a 20 gallon heavy planted tank with 2 pieces of driftwood. The tannins resulted in tea colored water. I could barely see the back of the tank even with the light on. I decided to try adding the a Purigen pack to the my HOB filter. It has made a HUGE difference. The water is very clear now, still with slight discoloration with tannins, but multiple degrees clearer. It has only been 2 days.

For $8 on Amazon, it was a quick and easy way to fix.


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