When does driftwood stop discoloring water?

[abw0004]

Hello again everyone,
2 1/2 weeks ago I purchased a piece of driftwood at the pet store and not knowing what I was doing I immediately put the wood in the water as I started the tank up. To no surprise, the water discolored so I then did a 50% water change. The driftwood also started to grow the brown slime/bacteria bloom. I took the driftwood out and boiled it for 15 minutes, twice. The next day I boiled it again for 2 hours. The water is still discoloring, but the slime/bacteria bloom is going away now. What is you experience in how long it take for the driftwood to stop leaching? I am tired of the gold tinted water. haha. Thanks!!

 

[Karatepig]

I ordered a piece of driftwood from drsfostersmith.com and it's been soaking in the same water for about four days, and it's done leaching. I changed the water yesterday and the water color is the same. About to put it into my 20g I think.

 

[abw0004]

I ordered a piece of driftwood from drsfostersmith.com and it's been soaking in the same water for about four days, and it's done leaching. I changed the water yesterday and the water color is the same. About to put it into my 20g I think.

Lucky! Mine is still did coloring the water, giving it a gold/brown tint and it has been 2 1/2 weeks

 

[Karatepig]

That website has high quality stuff. I was surprised too.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I think they will pretty much always color the water, just slower and less over time, and with weekly water changes it becomes less or unnoticeable. Although it also depends on the type of wood, the size of the piece, and the size of the tank it is in.

I have numerous small/ medium sized pieces I found on beaches in the Pacific Northwest in my 36 gallon. You can see a picture of my tank in my albums. They soaked for about a month and I boiled them all for an hour twice. It has been about 6 months since then and they're still coloring my water slightly yellow.

 

[Ian086]

Lucky! Mine is still did coloring the water, giving it a gold/brown tint and it has been 2 1/2 weeks

If you put some Purigen in your filter it will soak up the tannins....

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I've had my driftwood soaking for about 2 weeks now. At first I would get tea colored water within a day, lately I let it sit for a couple days and get only slightly stained water. By slightly stained, I mean I can see that it got darker in the bucket, but it is not noticeable when I'm pouring it out. I use a 5 gallon bucket and change water whenever it looks stained. I've been using hot tap water, just to help it along. I'm boiling it right now. I got plenty more tannins out of it already. I have a BN pleco and 2 kissing gouramis. Both need driftwood, and all that was available needed to be seasoned.

 

[Mr. Nowhere]

Hello again everyone,
2 1/2 weeks ago I purchased a piece of driftwood at the pet store and not knowing what I was doing I immediately put the wood in the water as I started the tank up. To no surprise, the water discolored so I then did a 50% water change. The driftwood also started to grow the brown slime/bacteria bloom. I took the driftwood out and boiled it for 15 minutes, twice. The next day I boiled it again for 2 hours. The water is still discoloring, but the slime/bacteria bloom is going away now. What is you experience in how long it take for the driftwood to stop leaching? I am tired of the gold tinted water. haha. Thanks!!

I boil my drift wood until the water gets a decent color of brown dump it out and repeat the process until the water mainly stops changing Color, generally between 5 and 10 times but it's better than waiting weeks and I've had no discoloration in my tanks from the 2 I've done. If the wood is 2 big dumping boiling water on them in a bucket works as well.

 

[tnfinfan]

I got lucky! I poured boiling water over it and left it for a few hours to make tea. The water came out the color of green tea. I then soaked it overnight in fresh water and there was barely a hint of color. So, I stuck it in the tank. I guess there is a wide range of tannin content and I have a low tannin chunk. Mine is a two-tone Mopani with a lot of the lighter color.

 

[PC1]

Every type of wood is different. Malaysian and mopani can leech for months and keep your water tea color the whole time. Where manzanita will usually barely leech enough to change water color at all. It's all a matter of picking the right wood or how much work your willing to put in.

 

[Carnifex]

I've got mopawni in both my freshwater tanks. In my 10 gallon the piece has been in for 5+ months and still leeches tannins. It was boiled 4 times lol. Personally i don't mind the yellow tint. It makes my fish pop and doesn't hurt them at all. Individual preferences i guess.

 

[Davep]

I boiled my mopani for 2 hours popped it in the tank, never stained the water

 

[Caliban07]

Carbon filters or purigen will soak up the tannins that discolour the water. Be aware that woods can also lower the ph of the water.

 

[Hubert90]

It really depends in the driftwood itself and tannins is good for your fish. It took 1.5years for my driftwood to stop leaching, now I'm adding peat moss to my filter xD

 

[flitabout]

I have bought Mopani that leached for months and a others that only leached for a day or two. There is no rhyme or reasoning to it. Some types will leach more and some will leach less.

 

[Rafy0126]

I bought a nice size piece of Bog wood from my local LFS that thing leach like crazy for over a month changing the water every day. In the end I just gave up and dropped in the aquarium. To my surprise no tannins at all. Like they said it depends on the wood.

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[tanz8anz]

Our driftwood discoloured our water for a few months

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