driftwood soaking/etc

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darwinvsjesus

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 5, 2010
130
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Tonawanda, NY
just got 2 unbelievable pieces of driftwood from the LFS I work for. they are too big for boiling, etc. i have one soaking in a rubbermaid tub, and the other in my bath tub. the one it the tub is not turning the water dark, or discoloring it at all - is this one safe to toss in my tank after i scrub it? (note i soaked it in very hot water, just below boiling. the water in my shower is HOT.

the second one is clearly leeching tannins. how long should I let it soak? until the water is totally clear? ( i guess i should change the water every 24 hours or so?)

any help/ideas would be appreciated !!
 
now, one of the pieces feels very soft now that it's been soaking. and little pieces keep falling off. it's very dark wood. should i be concerned? what should I look for in wood that I should NOT place in my tank? it's a stunning, amazing piece and I'd hate to have to return it. [ i can post pictures if you like?]
 
Post some pics.

Normally when looking for driftwood you want the wood to be hard. If you can press your thumb nail into the wood then it is too soft. Now if you have bogwood it can be a different story. Bogwood is wood that is already water logger and will most likely be softer than drift wood.

Are you using this wood strictly for decoration or do you have some large wood eating pleco that will be feeding on the wood? I do not have any large wood eating plecos so I prefer my wood to be hard. The harder the wood the longer it will last in your tank. If the wood is already falling apart it will not last that long in your tank. If it is falling apart badly then it may just cause a big mess in the tank.

When I got my last driftwood from the river. I used a rubbermaid tub to soak it in with hot bleach water. If you are using hot water you do not have to use bleach. I did to just be on the safe side. You will not leach all of the tannins out of a piece of wood in just a few days. It helps if the wood is already sun bleached or has been in the water for a long period of time. Soaking in hot water will speed up the leaching. I would soak the wood until you feel the water is clear enough. The time it takes for the wood to leach a good amount of tannins out will depend on what type of wood it is, how big the woods is, and how old or weathered the wood is. Along with other things. Some people like the brown colored water, I do not. It will not hurt your fish. And if you want to remove the brown tint from the water then just some activated carbon in your filter and it will remove it.
 
BTW, using HOT water w/bleach lessens the effectiveness of bleach. I personally don't like the idea of using bleach on anything that will be anywhere near my aquarium anyway.
 
Jer;4912597; said:
BTW, using HOT water w/bleach lessens the effectiveness of bleach. I personally don't like the idea of using bleach on anything that will be anywhere near my aquarium anyway.
Click to expand...

No sorry HOT water does not lesson the bleach as a disinfectant. When I was in HS I had an assignment about this very controversial topic. I contacted Clorox them selfs. And they said.

"Bleach does not become neutralized or less effective with hot water temperatures. Any temperature can be used while washing with bleach, and it will remain effective as both a whitener and disinfectant."
 
I agree that bleach + Wood is something i would almost definitely avoid, just incase the bleach gets soaked up into the wood and then re-released into my tank killing off the fish...

As for the tannins part, honestly, i've had pieces of Driftwood leach tannins for months before it stopped... the only way i can think of to help keep the water clear while your wood is releasing tannins in the tank would be to add some purigen or activated carbon into your filter...
 
For my wood (Moabi driftwood?) it would only leech in hot water. I let it leech for a few days, and decided to put it in my aquarium. Water isn't yellow, but I bet if I were to stick that into hot water again, it would come out.
 
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