Driftwood

R

riseabovethesun

Large Fish
#1
Jun 14, 2010
649
0
0
California
aquatic-underworld.blogspot.com
#1
I bought a huge piece of driftwood and I mean huge. It's probably about a good 40 or so pounds. There is a photo of it on my 40 gallon thread when I was testing how it'd look, etc.

Anyway, I moved it to the bathtub after testing it out and have been soaking it to prevent it from making my tank water brown, and it has been soaking for well over a week (or more I lost count) and is still making the water brown. I know it will probably take quite some time, but just want to know maybe a better estimate of how long, especially because I'll be having company soon and it's in the guest bathroom tub...haha

Anyone have any suggestions on how to either speed up the non-brown water process or know how long it might take with a piece that large?
 

aakaakaak

aakaakaak

Superstar Fish
#2
Sep 9, 2010
1,324
0
0
Chesapeake, Virginia
#2
My best guess would be 2-4 months with the method you're using.

I would suggest stuffing it in the dishwasher (if it fits)and running it through a couple cycles with no detergent.

BRB, going to your other thread....
 

phin

phin

Large Fish
#3
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#3
that sounds like a huge piece of driftwood. You might want to just move it into a 40 gallon garbage can and keep soaking it. It could take several months.

I boiled for a few hours and soaked for a day the small amount of driftwood in my avatar. it still leeched tannins into my tank for close to 6 months. I liked the dark water though, so it didn't bother me.
 

phin

phin

Large Fish
#5
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#5
Having tannins color the water is also a reminder to do water changes. As long as your driftwood is still coloring the water, wait too long between water changes and you will notice it.
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#6
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#6
In order to speed up the process, you'd have to soak the DW in boiling water and change the water every time it cools.

AS OC and Phin said, tannins in the water aren't a bad thing. In fact, tannins are found in the water where most fish come from, so it'll actually be great for them.
 

R

riseabovethesun

Large Fish
#7
Jun 14, 2010
649
0
0
California
aquatic-underworld.blogspot.com
#7
If it didn't take away from the aesthetics of the tank and make the fish completely invisible, I wouldn't mind at all. If it ends up taking way too long, I'll probably just put it in there and change the water a lot more often. But I am draining it when it cools and using (maybe not boiling but certainly painful) hot water in the tub.

The guy at my LFS suggested some vinegar method, that I don't know if I'd like to try. I know some people use a type of vinegar to clean equipment, but I'm paranoid of letting anything but water touch my fish supplies, lol.

Thank you guys for all the feedback!

edit: here is a rough photo of the set up (before the water cleared completely)
 

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aakaakaak

aakaakaak

Superstar Fish
#8
Sep 9, 2010
1,324
0
0
Chesapeake, Virginia
#8
The vinegar method is effectively bleaching your wood. You would still have to leach the vinegar and tannins out. The only thing that really does is help kill bugs and microbes and stuff. As far as I know there are three basic bleaching methods: bleach, vinegar and lemon juice. Lemon juice is the only one I know of that doesn't need a carbon leach after, since it's not really hazardous to fish. More or less, you just soak the wood in your bleaching agent and hot water for a day. It doesn't do anything with your tannins though.

The most effective method I've seen for leaching the tannins out is boiling. Aside from that, using a dishwasher will work. If you don't have either of those find a big tub and soak it in hot water (changing the water frequently) for several weeks.

The last method I'm familiar with is only suggested if you're not going to have anything that would eat wood. That's using an aquarium safe sealant on the wood.

There's also a baking method, but I don't understand the concept behind it much.
 

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bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#11
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#11
If you keep up on your water changes and add carbon to your filter, the tannins should only be noticeable as a slight brown tint to the water. I didn't soak the piece in my 20gL and have seen minimal tannins because I change my water once a week and have carbon in the filter. Same goes for the big piece in the 55gal and the piece in the 29gal. The only time you're going to get insane tannins is when you don't keep up on your water changes.
 

R

riseabovethesun

Large Fish
#13
Jun 14, 2010
649
0
0
California
aquatic-underworld.blogspot.com
#13
I'll just tell them to shower with the driftwood! Haha :p

I think mid-week I'll move it to the tank and let it do its thing. It's a brand new filter set up I bought, well...new as in a few weeks old, but new enough that it came with all the carbon and stuff, so it does have that in it, so that will be nice if it helps.

Thanks for all the info and suggestions! You guys rock.
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#14
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#14
I keep activated carbon on hand with a little mesh bag to put it in, just in case I need to leach tannins or stuff out of the water. I only use blue filter pad with my filters, but having the little mesh bag that I can stuff in the filter when I need to is great. :)
 

R

riseabovethesun

Large Fish
#15
Jun 14, 2010
649
0
0
California
aquatic-underworld.blogspot.com
#15
I've read around here a bit that keeping carbon in the filter isn't required, but I just leave a little bag in my Rena filter (I do change every so often...usually) and now the stuff that came with the Fluval.

But I think it's a great idea to have it on hand for actually doing something like cleaning up tannins a bit! Maybe I'll just remove my bag and keep it on hand, I have no idea why I leave it in the filter...haha
 

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