Driftwood

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Old post you dreged up here, but no problem, David Welcome to the site!

Do you thinkthat bake-soak-bake-soak-bake-soak will work in the same way that boil-soak-boil-soak-boil-soak will in speeding the tannin leech?

No, it will not help speed up the tannin leaching. the tannins leach because they are submerged in boiling water, it's not just the heat, its the water. Imagine a teabag, you could bake it all day, it needs to be dunked before the "tea" comes out.

Where did you get the wood? do you know what kind of wood it is? You don't want wood from pine trees.

How much will the PH be affected? Is it only affected by the tannins?
Depends what kind of wood it is for ph drop. Yes, it is affected by the tannins, I believe.
Is there a way to be sure the wood wont rot? If it does, how will you know? Will rotting wood kill my fish?

Rotting wood will foul your water, you want to make sure it's driftwood that is well-weathered, meaning all the soft parts of the wood are gone, leaving just the hard "heartwood". HTH.
 
If you pick up the driftwood as actual driftwood that had been bleached out and floating in the water for a long time, the tannins are already leached out. To make sure you don't contaminate your tank~~you could try what my fiancé does. (It has worked for him, but I don't think most people would approve.) He soaked the driftwood in the bathtub with a touch of bleach and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed the wood. Then there were many soakings in freshwater. To me this seemed like backbreaking work, but it worked for him and we have a very natural looking ecosystem in our 80 gal tank.
 
I love this forum, everyone is so helpful! I dont know what kind of wood it is...is there a way to tell? The types of trees that are in the surrounding area are cedar, larch, fir, cottonwood and alder....Im not sure, but I think pine is as well. Most of the wood is hard, but it does have an end on it that seems like it wasnt in the water as much because the grain is more defined and pops out...it might be a little soft...is there anything I can do? I really like this piece so I hope it will work...if it will work, I will find a way to boil it using fire in my back yard....how long should it boil just for the purpose of leeching tannins? This piece of wood has never floated and it is large.
 
driftwood...

The coconut shells that I use in my tanks sing right away. It's weird, when they are hole they float really well but once water gets in them, down they go. I boil them several times, they produce quite a bit of tannins but with the boiling they all leach out after a few boilings... Fish do love wood... My otos love it. I mentioned in another post, but I don't think too many people look at it, that I was thinking of making a few different decorations with the coconut shells... One of my ideas is to make one that looks like a rowboat or something. I was thinking of carving a person out of some type of wood to place in the boat so it looked like someone rowing or something. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to what kind of wood would work for that... Any suggestions? Also, similar topic, ever look at something and right away see what it could turn into.. i was looking at one of my shells and I saw a ladybug.. weird I know.. but I think it would be cool. I'll take a half coconut, carve some grooves in it to show where the wings would be and the head, and then cut holes where the dots would be... my question is, is there a type of paint that I could use on a coconut shell that would be safe for a fishtank??? Thanks....
 
I put mine in a 15 gal storage tub in the bath tub and filled with the hottest water I could get from the tap. Three times a day; before work, after work, before bed.

After 1 week the water in the tub was clear and I dropped it in my tank. No problems whatsoever.
 
Once most of the tannins are removed will the driftwood still soften the water? My water is not very hard to begin with (7degrees from the tap) and the snails I keep in the tank as "loach snacks" have somewhat soft and thin shells already
 
enpharedskin, where did you get the wood? Any pine-type tree (coniferous) including, cedar & fir, will have oils, acids, & tar in the wood that are harmful in a tank. Tank-safe wood is mostly wood from hardwood trees with large broad leaves or vines.
Here's a site with a big discussion on driftwood, that also answers some of the points brought up here. http://www.atchison.com/ArticlesandStories/wood.htm
 
Sorry to bring up an old post. Just wanted to add my experiences as further archival information.

I found mine off a stream that leads to ocean waters. Since I was unsure of what might be living on it I soaked it for a few hours in a solution of 1 part chlorine to 50 parts water. Then I boiled it for 30 minutes on each side (it was too long to do it all at once). I then soaked it in a salt bath for 48 hours (as further means to kill off any harmful denizens). Then boiled it for 30 minutes on each side. Soaked it for 48 hours (the water was still getting quite dark from the tannins) and then finally boiled it for 3 hours on each end. After this long boiling session the water in the pot was so dark I could not see further than 1 inch into the water. I then let it soak for an additional 24 hours at which time the water was still absolutely clear. I think a long period of boiling followed by a period of soaking and then if necessary another long period of boiling and soaking is the best means to remove the tannins. 30 minute boiling periods did not suffice for me and soaking without boiling hardly allowed very much of it to come out at all.
 
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