Officially Done with Tannins

[christine2012]

I have no clue about the moss. I hope someone more knowledgeable in that dept comes along. Sorry!
But here is this:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/driftwood/

 

[Daxhua]

True, but im interested in this salting method. I repeat my previous post.

If you had that much trouble with your moss then I wouldn't risk the salt method. Try purigen I've used it twice to clear up tannins and it does work.

 

[maxwellag]

I feel your pain. :/ I have a piece of driftwood that is only like a foot long in my 5g and i have boiled it for 16 hours, then ran it through the dishwasher 3 times and it still turns my water tea colored. I recommend trying carbon in the filter. It usually makes the water clearer (as in less discolored)

 

[mr.waffles1842]

Is java moss one of those plants where you can snip some of it off and that cutting will grow as a new moss body?

 

[christine2012]

This says cloning should be pretty easy. It says to just split it no problem. I'm sure there's instructional videos on YouTube.
http://www.myhealthidea.com/bigger-food/aquatic-plants-java-moss-20946.html

 

[mr.waffles1842]

Alright. So now could i have the step by step process of salting down the DW? I dont have a stove right now, gettting a new kitchen. So im going to put it in warm water, do a PWC, then hope for the best. Also i cant find purigen anywhere. so yeah.

 

[Rasmus]

pls. tell me, being a newbee to this forum - what is "tannin" apart from an acid in oaktrees... frequent in aged American Bourbon Whisky?
I take it that you are not writing about a pollutant from submerged wood decorations perhaps.... in that case the remedy would be too obvious.
Educate me pls. I am not totally without information on water treatment

 

[christine2012]

Alright. So now could i have the step by step process of salting down the DW? I dont have a stove right now, gettting a new kitchen. So im going to put it in warm water, do a PWC, then hope for the best. Also i cant find purigen anywhere. so yeah.

Well what I did for the initial salt soak, was dissolve 1 tbsp of kosher salt, 100% pure, per gallon of water I intended to use. I did this on the stove in a soup kettle. I dissolved like 10 gallons worth of salt and situated the weighted wood in my spare bathtub. Poured the boiling hot salt water (dechlorinated mine,) over the wood and filled the rest of the tub with hot water. Soak for about two days. I have heard of some people sunbleaching it between soaks, but I didn't do this. I changed the salt water every other day with the same concentration. I continued this phase of changing the water until my tannins slowed and when I started to notice a difference, is when I started the freshwater bath. I did the fresh water bath for a week to get all salt out, changing water every day. There is no time frame on this, sometimes it can take forever. Over all I spent about a month curing this wood and didn't get all the tannin out. But like I said, I like mine.

 

[christine2012]

Oh and for me the salt phase lasted about 3 weeks. I imagine yours may take longer with the tannin as bad as it is. The biggest thing is changing that water!

 

[mr.waffles1842]

Well then, im going to revise that plan a bit. Seeing as how i live with 2 younger brothers (and an older sister. all you guys out there know what i mean), i can use our only bathtub. So im going to use a 5 gallon bucket, and place in 2 tblspns per gallon. so 10 tablespoons. This water will be warm, not hot, since i have no stove. I will do this until i notice a lack of tannins in the water. ill also change the water every 2 days.

Rasmus, tannins are released from wood whilst its in water, especially warm water. Think of it like tea. Heat up tea leaves and it releases a light brown color. Although not harming any fish, other than slightly lowering the pH, it is unattractive. So you usually boil the wood to get any tannins out.

 

[christine2012]

Well then, im going to revise that plan a bit. Seeing as how i live with 2 younger brothers (and an older sister. all you guys out there know what i mean), i can use our only bathtub. So im going to use a 5 gallon bucket, and place in 2 tblspns per gallon. so 10 tablespoons. This water will be warm, not hot, since i have no stove. I will do this until i notice a lack of tannins in the water. ill also change the water every 2 days.

Rasmus, tannins are released from wood whilst its in water, especially warm water. Think of it like tea. Heat up tea leaves and it releases a light brown color. Although not harming any fish, other than slightly lowering the pH, it is unattractive. So you usually boil the wood to get any tannins out.

Sounds promising enough. Warm water is better than cold water. But if you happen to find a way to heat it without the stove, the hotter the better. With the higher salt concentration I'd double the time you did your freshie soaks just to be sure, but that's just me. I hope you see lots of progress in the weeks ahead! Good luck.

 

[Rasmus]

mr.waffles1842
sorry I asked so simple a question - I couldn´t imagine that ordinary "black water" could be any problem in a auquatic description of a biotope that contained wood; but if you have a fish tank for the decorative effect in your home .,. don´t use wood.... use wood substitute... thats is fiber material made to resemble wood.... it isn´t cheap if it is good, but it will not taint your water.... your fish may hate you though.

 

[christine2012]

mr.waffles1842
sorry I asked so simple a question - I couldn´t imagine that ordinary "black water" could be any problem in a auquatic description of a biotope that contained wood; but if you have a fish tank for the decorative effect in your home .,. don´t use wood.... use wood substitute... thats is fiber material made to resemble wood.... it isn´t cheap if it is good, but it will not taint your water.... your fish may hate you though.

Lots of people add driftwood for looks. But some add it (myself ) because a pleco actually eats the wood pulp. Its like pleco fiber.

 

[mr.waffles1842]

I add DW because i dont trust decor. My first 12 gallon tank, paint chips off fish swallow it next thing i know i got a graveyard on my hands.

 

[Fishandmusic81]

If it helps
I boiled mines for 8 hours
Put it in a bucket with hose water changed the water twice
Just changed it 3 hours ago and it's looking a lot clearer everytime