Discolored Tank Water (orange)

[Al]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on a recent
problem I'm having with my cold water tank.

I have a 90 litre (24 gallon) tank with 5 goldfish (common and
comets).
I change 1/3 of the water every week and clean the filter every two
weeks.
The tank setup or fish food have not changed recently.

After the last water change at the weekend the fish tank water has
taken on an orange colour.
The fish seem happy enough.

I changed a 1/3 of the water again last night which initially helped
but it looked like the discoloration of the water happened again over
night.

Any suggestions?

TIA
Alastair

[Chris Lewis]

You havent by any chance added any new bog wood to the tank? This can
leach an orange colour into the water if it hasnt been soaked
properly.

If not i can help sorry

Chris

[Al]

No recent bog wood added although there is a couple of bits that have
been in there for over a year.
Would changes in the PH cause the old bog wood to colour the water?

Thanks

[Mister Gardener]

> No recent bog wood added although there is a couple of bits that have
> been in there for over a year.
> Would changes in the PH cause the old bog wood to colour the water?
>

Probably not, unless the bog wood has started rotting badly recently. More
often, leaching bogwood might change the pH a little. When we speak of bog
wood coloring the water, we most commonly describe the water as "tea
colored". I'm trying to envision orange. Can you give us a little better
picture of your tank - along with the usual water test results? Does the
water clear when you do a water change, or how long before the orange
returns? When I think orange water, I think rust - but you don't have
anything rusting in there. Do you? Might be worth a try to remove the wood
and do a water change and see what happens. You don't have any small
children running around with packets of orange Koolaid or paprika, do you?

MG

[NetMax]

While metals leech faster if the pH is low or changing (as opposed to
high or steady), I would be looking at changes in your fish food,
filter media or iron in your water (mineral or bacterium) for the
cause of the color.
~~

On Apr 5, 6:23 pm, "Mister Gardener" <mrgarde...@email.toast.net>
wrote: