Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a large piece of driftwood in one of my tanks. Its the first time i've ever attempted using a wood basking spot. I normally favor more easily cleaned basking areas. The turtles in the tank just love it and they can easily adjust their distance from the basking light. My problem arises in the driftwood discoloring the water. Less than a week after changing the water, my 75 gallon tank looks like its filled with tea. I dont know if this is a health concern for the turtles, but its certainly not very attractive. I scrub the wood every time i clean the tank, but i haven't used any soaps or sanitizers on it because i was concerned it would absorb into the wood and potentially hurt the turtles. If anyone can offer any suggestions as to how to keep the wood from staining the water and how to properly sanitize it, i would be very grateful. Thanks in advance!

Eventually after a lot of water changes, your water will go back to normal. This tea colored water will not harm your turtles. You can also take the wood out and boil it in water for a while, that will take out the color faster than just soaking it.

thanks!