Driftwood Ready?

[shaloric7]

I've had some Mopani driftwood sitting in a bucket for 24 hours and there's no sign of discoloration in the water. Is it ready to go in the aquarium? Do I need to boil it?

 

[flitabout]

I would suggest not boiling it on personal experience! When it gets boiled it tends to get this nasty slime stuff on it! If you are ok with putting it in tank then go for it. It may leach the tannins in the tank, but it isn't dangerous to the fish just annoying to you. The fish actually prefer the tannins so you are good to go!

 

[BBradbury]

Driftwood

I've had some Mopani driftwood sitting in a bucket for 24 hours and there's no sign of discoloration in the water. Is it ready to go in the aquarium? Do I need to boil it?

Hello Rich...

Tannic acid won't hurt anything in your tank, so I'd say the piece is tank ready. Just rinse it well in some of your new tank water and put it in. Don't boil it. This softens the wood and it doesn't stay together in the tank as long. If you're concerned about bacteria or something, then put a tablespoon of standard aquarium salt in a bucket of your new tank water and soak the piece for a few hours. It's very doubtful there's anything on it, but the salt will kill any bad bugs. Then, rinse well afterward.

B

 

[Mebbid]

I would suggest not boiling it on personal experience! When it gets boiled it tends to get this nasty slime stuff on it! If you are ok with putting it in tank then go for it. It may leach the tannins in the tank, but it isn't dangerous to the fish just annoying to you. The fish actually prefer the tannins so you are good to go!

Mopani grows the white slime whether its boiled or not. It's just something that happens with some wood, mopani in particular.

As for bbradburys comment on boiling the wood, there's no reason not to. Mopani is such an insanely dense wood you will likely have to replace the tank before you have to replace the wood. If this was a weathered piece of regular wood I would advise against boiling it however.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

no need to boil. i dont even soak mine. i just rinse and throw it in.

 

[Stotts]

Even if it does tan your water just buy purigen, it's from seachem. It's really good just throw it in your filter above the carbon and it will clear your whole tank!