Wood

[sp0ng3r]

I have been doing some research, and wanted to put some wood in my tank. It seems the couple best choices are Mopani and Mylasian. I have a large tank 135g, and would like for this to be a centerpiece. I have located an option for large pieces that are 2-3 feet each.

I have a few concerns. I really would like to avoid the tea stained tannin water. I know the fish often prefer it, but it is really not my "cup of tea" I small amount is fine, but I am not going for a black water look.

From what I have read, it seems that Mopani can leech for years. Since it is large, I do not really see boiling it as an option. The only other option I read was to buy a black trash can, and soak it for weeks at a time, drain, then repeat. Does anyone have advise? I know Purigen is an option, but honestly, I have hang on filters as opposed to canister filters as they are my preference. Can Purigen be used with these?

Ideally, I want a large piece of wood without an extreme amount of tannis. I would rather not use purigen unless I have to. Does anyone have any experiences or advise for me?

 

[Wyomingite]

Boil the wood first, this will remove a large portion of the tanins. After a month or so, mopani generally stops leaching to the extent it does initially, even if not boiled. The amount that it does leach is relatively minor and can will be controllable by carbon in yer filter and water changes.

WYite

 

[sp0ng3r]

Due to the size of the wood, I do not think I will be able to boil it. I will be approximately 3 feet long.

 

[Teakwood]

Hot water soak in the bath tub?

 

[Rivercats]

With that size your best bet would probably be the trash can that you could start with hot water and then add hot water as you can. A bathtub would be perfect except too many chemicals have been used in them. I have a 220g and I bought two big pieces of DW attached to Slate. Those don't leech and you just put them in the tank before adding the substrate. You can see my wood in the links below the post.

 

[sp0ng3r]

Rivercats, those look great. Do you remember where you got them? Online, or local?

 

[Rivercats]

I got them local but found them online too as that was going to be my option until the LFS got some in. I'll look and see if I can find that site again and will post it if I do find it.

 

[Rivercats]

Go through this link but still haven't found the link I want.

driftwood in Driftwood | eBay

 

[sp0ng3r]

I have another question. I live near the Ocean here in California. Would harvesting driftwood there and boiling/soaking it for a long time get all the salt out of it eventually. Even if it took a month or two? Would it be useable?

 

[Rivercats]

Yes it can be used if you research how to get the salt off/out of it. It would also allow you to find a piece of rock/slate that you could drill and screw into the wood if it has floating issues.

 

[sp0ng3r]

Wow, that opens up a world of possibilities for me! I did do some research in that i should scrub it first, then boil for a few hours, soak it for a night, boil, soak, boil soak, etc until the water tastes clean, and you can not smell any salt.

Would I run into any problems with the wood being a "soft wood"? I assume not since it has been in the ocean for years already.

Finally, would it deterioriate in my tank rapidly?

 

[Rivercats]

True driftwood, the kind of weathered grayish wood that no longer sinks won't rot. I've had pieces I've used and reused in smaller tanks for years (like 20+ years) and they are still going strong. But they will need a heavy base to hold them down but will warn you that once I had a large piece and never could find a heavy enough base to keep it down, which pee'd me off, but I finally just used it in the yard.