Diftwood Questions

[Random Fishy]

Ok so I'm adding Malaysian driftwood for my tank and I'm trying to take out as much tannins as I possibly can so i don't mess my ph up. I'm going to soak the driftwood in a bucket to release more tannins. So I have a few questions. First of all I'm boiling and soaking but I'm open for new ways here so is there a better way to remove more tannins or are those the most affective ways? Can driftwood soak tannins back into it? If so, can I stop/prevent this at all? And finally, I hear that driftwood is good for plecos because they like to chew on it. Is this true and if it is (I'm just curious) how does it it help?

 

[henningc]

OK, if you boiled the drift wood well one time that is all the boiling it needs. I keep mine in a shop sink with a 5gal bucket full of water wieghting it down. I change the water twice daily by draining the sink and refilling with very hot water. After about 1 1/2 weeks it usually stays submerged, but you need to keep it in there another 2 weeks with the same routine to be safe. If you can go two days with the same water and no discoloration you're done. You don't have to worry about the wood soaking up the leached tannie unless you let the water dry up.

Plecos do typically appreciate wood. Some must have it for proper digestion, while others just want to munch on it. Best rule to follow is always put driftwood in tanks with Plecos.

One more thing, you can go out to the local river or stream and find your own driftwood. If you have softwood, it will start flaking apart during the boil and while soaking. I always look for root wads. They look cool and come in every shape and size.

 

[Mebbid]

The tannins wont have that large of an effect on your water chemistry, so I wouldn't worry about it. As for removing them from the water, look at using either purigen or Activated carbon (purigen is my fav)

The driftwood can't absorb tannins back into it but it will release them slower if there are a lot of tannins in the water already. This is why changing the water is a good thing.

Some pieces of driftwood can soak for months on end and not release all the tannins. I had a big piece of mopani driftwood in my tank and after 3 months I gave up and just added purigen.

Most plecos really need some source of driftwood. They will rasp on it (It's a strange jumping they do on it, it's hard to explain) and the fibers they get from the wood helps their digestion.

 

[Random Fishy]

Does driftwood benifit just plecos or can it help other creatures too? My reason for asking is because I have a snail. Wondering if it will help him at all.

 

[Mebbid]

As far as I know it's really only helpful to plecos.

 

[Random Fishy]

How many times should I change the water per day?

 

[twoodrough]

I used purigen and had no apparent tannin coloration.

 

[Fishperson]

I had activated carbon in my filter and never had any tannins, and I never even washed the wood, just boiled it.

 

[Mebbid]

I would just change the water when it gets to he a strong tea color. Probably every 2-3 days.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Driftwood

Ok so I'm adding Malaysian driftwood for my tank and I'm trying to take out as much tannins as I possibly can so i don't mess my ph up. I'm going to soak the driftwood in a bucket to release more tannins. So I have a few questions. First of all I'm boiling and soaking but I'm open for new ways here so is there a better way to remove more tannins or are those the most affective ways? Can driftwood soak tannins back into it? If so, can I stop/prevent this at all? And finally, I hear that driftwood is good for plecos because they like to chew on it. Is this true and if it is (I'm just curious) how does it it help?

Hello Ran...

The tannic acid is harmless. I rinsed my driftwood in warm tap water and just put it into the tank. Yes, I did have amber colored water for a short time, but after a few large water changes, which I routinely do anyway, the water was crystal clear again. My tanks are large, so the color change in the tank water was minimal.

The tannins are removed through the water change, so there's nothing that can be reabsorbed by the driftwood. The plecos might like to rasp the algae from the wood, but there's nothing that would be toxic to your fish.

B

 

[brybell]

I had some mopani driftwood that I soaked for days.

Then after putting it in the aquarium it still released a lot of tannins making the water brown. I even had carbon and it barely took it down.

Then it developed this fungus that looked like a thin layer of fog was covering the whole thing. I took it out, scrubbed it, then boiled it for like an hour!

After an hour the water turned extremely dark brown/ red.

I put it back in the tank...only days later to find tannin stained water and the fungus was back. I took it out because I was beginning to get frustrated.

Is there any wood that does not have as much tannin? and what about the fungus? I read its harmless but its worrysome and I did not want to put in my fish around it...

I have a question about purigen. do you guys put it in your filter? or do you just throw a bag of it into your tank?

 

[BBradbury]

Hello bry...

Boiling the wood will soften it and can cause it to come apart. Commercial pieces really aren't worth the money anyway. Northern CA must have many places with plenty of natural pieces and rocks to make a nice addition to your tank. I have several, large tanks and have many pieces I've collected locally in the river and lake areas. As long as there are no laws against this, I'd suggest you go out and do some driftwood and rock hunting. The natural pieces are much nicer.

The fungus grows where food falls into the cracks in the wood. Fungus is interesting. It's neither a plant, nor an animal. When the food is used, the fungus will be gone. But, if you're a liberal feeder, it can live for some time.

Ramshorn snails will get rid of it and any other decaying plant or animal material. I've kept them for years in my planted tanks and wouldn't be without them. Keep the food to a minimum and they won't get out of control.

Avoid putting chemicals into the tank water. You never know what will be affected. Change half the tank water every week or two and your fish and plants will be healthy.

Keep pluggin' away.

B

 

[Mebbid]

Mopani is one of those woods that has TONS of tannins in it. It takes quite a while for them to stop leeching. It took about 3 months for a smaller piece to stop while a larger piece didn't stop in the 5 months I had it in my tank. Just use some activated carbon or purigen (my favorite) and the tannins will go away quickly.

As for the white growth that grew on the wood; It's perfectly normal and harmless to fish. I'm not sure what causes it but it only seems to last a month or so on mopani. Just take it out an scrub it occasionally and it'll go away.

 

[Random Fishy]

Does Malaysian driftwood have a lot of tannins?

 

[Mebbid]

*shrug* I have no idea. But like I said earlier, tannins don't matter. Carbon removes them easily as will purigen.

 

[brybell]

the carbon i had in the the aqueon 10 cleaned it a little, but not enough. even the ac50 i have now didnt completely clear it out

 

[Mebbid]

the carbon i had in the the aqueon 10 cleaned it a little, but not enough. even the ac50 i have now didnt completely clear it out

Really? With a fresh huge piece of mopani in my tank my Eheim ecco canister filter cleared my tank over the course of 8 hours

 

[PC1]

Mopani and malaysian both are heavy tannin releasers. If you find true driftwood on a shoreline they usually wont release much but then you need to hope it will sink on it's own and you dont introduce any unwanted critters to your tank. Manzanita does not usually release much tannins and what is can in most cases be removed in a water change.

 

[brybell]

do you just put purigen in your filter?