Comment by Peter on December 10, 2012 at 11:18pm

Well ur dirt layer should have been 1 inch but ur cap I good soo good it took the dirt a while to leech tannis up. Ur water is changing color cus of the dirt. In a month or 2 ull see bubbles come up from the substrate and that's the dirt bubbling and wen they rise tey take dirt with them and the bigger the dirt layer the more dirt that comes up

Comment by Faith-Magdalene Austin on December 10, 2012 at 11:20pm

It's your tannins causing this. I think its just going to take more water changes. 

Comment by Peter on December 10, 2012 at 11:22pm

I forgot I say to fix it keep doing water changes. It will take a while but the second solution is breaking the tank down and starting over

Comment by Robert Jango on December 11, 2012 at 9:18am

I breed Discus and other South American cjchlids and purposely allow leaves to stain my water.  (I use the rainwater collected from my leaf-filled gutters.) The tannins protect their eggs from bacteria and may protect the parents as well. The aquarium trade actually sells something called "blackwater extract" which is a solution containing leaf extract among other things. This supposedly triggers breeding behavior. Other fish may or may not like it - not sure.

Comment by Katie Gander on December 12, 2012 at 8:51pm

Thank you you guys!  You all have been so helpful...(: I wondered if it was the tannins in the water, but I wanted a second opinion on it.  

Comment by LED on December 16, 2012 at 10:05pm

since you have that much dirt in your tank i would suggest getting enough plants to look like dustins videos.  If his videos gave you inspiration to go with a dirted planted tank, then take visual advice from his videos and HEAVILY plant it like he does.  since you're starting with new dirt, i would suggest very fast growers that are cheap (anacharis, hornwort < ugly plant imo, and even floating plants like water lettuce, dwarf water lettuce, duckweed, frogbit, fairy fern, and such) 

the addition of MANy plants and especially true floating plants, will help to reduce any algae blooms and also use all the excess nutrients in your water due to the dirt releasing lots of nutrients.  After a few months to a half year or so you can use slower growing plants that are much more pretty to replace the faster growing ugly plants

Comment by Katie Gander on December 20, 2012 at 6:03pm

Thanks, that's actually quite helpful!  That's what I've been doing so far, getting the fast growing plants... I'll definitely look for the prettier one's in the near future.

Comment by Clayton on March 30, 2013 at 8:10am

Katie, has your tank cleared up yet? I have a 180gal African cichlid tank that I dirtied two-three weeks ago. You can not see through it from the end to end. I have been doing lots of water changes.

Did urs clear up or should I remove the dirt?

Thanks!

Comment by LED on March 30, 2013 at 2:40pm

Cichlid + dirt = muddy water. I never suggest that combination. they, like goldfish, love to dig in the substrate. I wouldnt keep a dirted cichlid tank even if someone paid me for it

Comment by Katie Gander on April 11, 2013 at 4:52pm

Ya, it cleared up!  It's still is a little cloudy, but it's way better than what it was. Just be patient, keep up with the water changes, and heavily plant it.  Good luck, and let me know how it turns out. I figured out why mine was so awful, it was because I had mulch in with the dirt and peaces of wood in it.  

Comment