My new driftwood

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Tifta

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
368
Location
Georgia
I just got my new Malaysian driftwood in the mail.
img_884671_0_dbe98fc0290575027995e606a4c621b4.jpg


Isn't it pretty, it has some great grooves and holes in it. I boiled it for about 30 minutes and now it's soaking in a bucket. I already attached some Java ferns to it. I had it sitting on the floor in my kitchen, but had to move it up high, since my cat kept wanting to lick out of the bucket. I can't wait to put it into my 10g tank. Now sitting and waiting is gonna be the hard part.
 
Looks like a nice piece, is it hollow underneath? Its hard to tell from that picture. I'd keep boiling it and changing the water in the bucket every other day. Repeat for a month... LOL! It will take a while for it to sink/lose all the tannins.
 
it's got little holes in it. I wish it was hollow though inside that would be cool. I still got a little bit of tannins coming out, but the thing sinks like the Titanic! You think I'll have to wait a month? *sniff* And should I keep boiling it?
 
Well it may not be a whole month, if its sinking now you're already a step up. You want to make sure you boil it well enough to get rid of anything that may be living in it. I've known people to boil their wood for many hours over the course of a week and let it soak for months and it still doesn't sink or stop leaking tannins. It all depends on the piece you picked. I've heard some people will just run some Activated Carbon in their filters to remove the tannins that do leach out.
 
well I guess I am gonna keep boiling it some more. I would rather be safe than sorry. At least I don't have to worry about it sinking since it does with no effort! I just started a fish blog, and I took some pictures of the procedure. Tee hee
 
I'd recommend leaving the wood in a bucket for 24hours. If the water isn't stained darker than you'd like, then add it to your aquarium. If the water is overly dark boil some more and repeat the bucket check.
 
purrbox- I'll keep an eye on it. :) It would be nice to be able to put it in sooner. I would rather not have my water stained though.

Speed, I did make sure to dechlor my water before soaking. So I guess i am on the right track! Weee I can't wait!
 
Hehe...and I'm having the opposite problem I want my driftwood to leech tannins, and it's not complying quickly enough. I'm sitting and waiting for the exact opposite reason.
 
I didnt think mine was bad after letting sit in the bucket for only 1-2days. It deff sunk right when I got it. Now in the tank it does give off stuff as the water turns yellowish after a couple days. Wish I would have soaked it longer but as long as its not hurting anything I'm OK with doing water changes to clear up the water. I was thinking about putting some carbon in the filter and see if that would help keep the water clearer(although I'm not sure if it would?)
 
well it looked a little less yellow in the brita(not sure when that was last changed). So I went ahead and put some carbon in my filter. Its turnover sucks and I did a water change, so its clearer. I guess tomorrow if its clear then I'll know it worked.
 
Activated carbon does help to remove tanins, but depending on the amount of tanins that the driftwood is leaching it may not take care of the tanins completely.
 
Well let me know how the carbon worked. I really don't want to put my piece of wood in until I know it isn't staining the water still. It is very slight in my bucket right now. I am gonna wait maybe till this weekend to put it in if it shows improvement!
 
I would let it soak in the bucket till you are happy with it. I know its a pain waiting for it but thats all part of the hobby :) Like Joy said, you will see a difference with the AC but it may not be able to make it crystal clear. Depends on how much leached into the water column.
 
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