[Prometheus]

I noticed the water in my aquarium has a yellow tint to it. At some point my emergent plants died off so maybe that's why (I had been adding distilled water to try to lower the pH-which didn't work at all). I gave up on the pH since then. But now I am reviving the water sprite again but they aren't growing back as fast as before.

I'm not sure why the water is not clearing up since it's been a few months now that I've started adding regular water. I think I have regular plant growth.. the only thing I notice is that my Java fern gets brown/yellow leaves pretty often and they fall off instead of producing new plants. I have had some hair algae but it mostly growing on and around the java moss. The SAEs are not doing a good job of clearing it up. I haven't had any big algae problems in general.

I have a 98 watt compact florescent and I keep it on for 9 hours a day. Should I change half of the water to clear it up or keep the light on longer? I hear that water is usually yellow because of organic matter but it seems like plant growth has really helped. I've attached some pictures although it's hard to tell the color of the water. I just recently trimmed all the plants so it's more tidy now

 

[Prometheus]

So here is a picture of my tank as it was towards the beginning when I set it up about a year ago. A lot has changed! My java fern definately doesn't look as good now...so I'm wondering about the water quality and what to do to make that yellowish tint go away.

 

[Sunstar]

the yellowish tint is from the driftwood. its tannins released. Not a bad thing. it will probably go away.

 

[dwalstad]

I noticed the water in my aquarium has a yellow tint to it.

I have a 98 watt compact florescent and I keep it on for 9 hours a day. Should I change half of the water to clear it up or keep the light on longer? QUOTE]

From what I can see in your pictures, the tank looks like its doing very well, indeed. Many people would be thrilled to have plant growth like this.

Yes, a trim would definitely help, but don't overdo it. I would change water and/or add charcoal to the filter to remove the yellowing. Its just dissolved organic matter-- released by the plants, or it could come from decomposition of wood or other organic matter in the tank.

You've got so much plant growth in this tank that I would expect some plant species to die out from the competition. I would clean tank up a little if you want to keep particular plant species.