Help! Driftwood still has tannis.

[TheGuppyGirl]

I have this really stubborn piece of driftwood that I want as my center piece in my tank. It's literally soaked for weeks and I put in fresh hot water at least twice a day. The water still looks like tea in the morning after the overnight soak. Can I speed up the process or is this driftwood just unacceptable?

 

[Fishandmusic81]

I have this really stubborn piece of driftwood that I want as my center piece in my tank. It's literally soaked for weeks and I put in fresh hot water at least twice a day. The water still looks like tea in the morning after the overnight soak. Can I speed up the process or is this driftwood just unacceptable?

Try boiling it for a few hours

 

[christine2012]

Do you have a dishwasher?

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

No dishwasher. My mom says, "You are the dishwasher." Ha. But I'm not sure if boiling will work because it also won't sink on its own. I have to put a stone on it to keep it submerged when soaking.

 

[christine2012]

Hmm If you have a big enough kettle could you just keep a lid on it?

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

I do have a large kettle that I know the piece will fit in, keeping it down is just my problem. I'll give it a whirl and see if it helps. Thanks.

 

[christine2012]

I have heard of people having to boil their wood for 16 hours a day for several days so be patient :/

 

[LyndaB]

Just keep doing water changes. Depending on the driftwood type, mopani versus malaysian, the malaysian clears up faster. The mopani may still give you tannins a year later. I personally love the tannins and so do my fish.

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

I've been boiling it for about 2 hours now and it's still excreting lots of tannis, but at a much faster pace. Hopefully it won't take weeks. n_n

 

[Borderlesscott]

I've loads of bogwood in my tanks, boiled every piece and never noticed any tannins, had to actually add almond leaves to one of tanks to get tannins in the water.

 

[tamtam]

Boiling work wonders! lol. It will also help your wood sink faster.

I currently an taking over my laundry room sink to soak a hunk of wood that is too big for my buckets and can't possibly fit in my biggest pot. womp womp.

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

I've boiled it about 7 times and the water has a light tea color. I dropped it into my tank (which is currently cycling) and I'm gonna wait and see if there's any more tannis.

 

[Rivercats]

One more thing you can do since you put it in your tank is add Purgen to you filter (if you can). Purgen is great for soaking up tannins in your water. I know this because I have used it for that purpose and was amazed how well it worked.

 

[Tetra1990]

Recently I got a piece of mopani for my 10. I boiled/soaked for 3 days and finally the wTer was clear. Your patience will be reward.

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

Recently I got a piece of mopani for my 10. I boiled/soaked for 3 days and finally the wTer was clear. Your patience will be reward.

Lol. That last sentence made you sound like a genie or something. Generally, I am a patient person, and I have to wait for my substrate to arrive anyway before everything can be set up. I still have time to boil it if need be.

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

Still boiling, and still excreting tannins. I never thought such a small piece of wood would have so much tannins. Does baking help release tannins?