Curing Driftwood

[blueramboy87]

I just ordered a piece of Malaysian Driftwood for my planted 10g. I'm curious how you cure your driftwood as there seem to be many ways. So any advice is appreciated as I would prefer not to have tea water for the next year. Thanks!!!

 

[Mebbid]

Malaysian driftwood isn't a big producer of tannins like mopani is. That being said, theres not a whole lot you can do to speed up the process aside from boiling it.

 

[blueramboy87]

How long and how often do you recommend boiling it?

 

[Mebbid]

How long and how often do you recommend boiling it?

I usually just boil it for a few hours and call it good. Adding purigen in the filter helps with tannins.

 

[NigelK8485]

Scrub it real quick then boil it for an hour or two. Change the water and boil it for a little bit longer than you did the first time. You can judge from how dark the water is if you need to boil it anymore. With mine I just soaked it in a bathtub full of hot water for a day, changed the water once during it. It turned my tank water a yellowish tint for maybe a week or two afterwards.


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[blueramboy87]

Crap. I just realized I ordered Mopani instead. Anymore recommendations for that? Its Zoo Med if that helps at all.

 

[NigelK8485]

Crap. I just realized I ordered Mopani instead. Anymore recommendations for that? Its Zoo Med if that helps at all.

Same process, just may take a little longer. After boiling it, when you pour out the water, you'll be able to see how dark the water is from the tannins and base it on that. Maybe soak it in the tub or a bin for an extra day or two with just hot water. Like Mebbid said, adding Purigen or carbon to the filter can help soak up excess tannins.


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[jim532]

I boil for an hour, change the water and boil for another hour. then i rinse it off and put it in cold water for 24 hours. If the water has changed color at all repeat the process

 

[Mebbid]

It depends on how big the piece is. I have a huge piece of mopani that's still leeching tannins after close to 2 years. I also have 2 smaller pieces that stopped in 3 months or so.

The best answer I can give you is lots of purigen

 

[blueramboy87]

I have a tetra whisper ex20 how do suggest I use the purigen?

 

[blueramboy87]

Anyone else have advice for curing Mopani driftwood?

 

[pbkuhn123]

I put a bag of Purigen in my filter and it removed the tannins. However, my was large and I soaked in a deep utility sink of hot water for about a week prior to adding to the aquarium. Still had tannins until I added Purigen.

 

[NigelK8485]

Anyone else have advice for curing Mopani driftwood?

Pretty much all you can do has been listed. It's just a waiting game and aiding in speeding up the process by soaking in hot water or boiling. Expect a white mold to grow on the driftwood as well after a little while of it being in the tank. I haven't personally used mopani but I don't see why it would be an exception. Once again, it's a natural process and will dissipate with time or with your fish eating it off.


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[blueramboy87]

Thanks to everyone for the help!!!