Curing Driftwood?

[mandy2936]

Hi!

I want to use Driftwood or Mopani wood my tank. I don't want the tannins coloring my water, so is this how you treat the wood?

Boil the wood for a couple hours, then soak in a bucket until the water in the bucket becomes clear.

Is that right?
Thanks!
I'll just be buying the wood from Petco or Petsmart.

Oh and I'm getting a 15g. I haven't gotten the tank yet, so I'll be curing the wood while I cycle my tank...

 

[maxima423]

How to Prepare, Cure, and Place Driftwater in your Freshwater Aquarium

here you go, that should help you a ton

 

[IT-FishGuy]

Mopani wood is great I have 3 pieces in two tanks.. The only thing I had to do was soak it in a bucket overnight. Not sure if it was treated before I got it, but I didn't notice any coloration of the water. I like the fact that it's heavy and doesn't need to be weighted down.

 

[mgamer20o0]

Hi!

I want to use Driftwood or Mopani wood my tank. I don't want the tannins coloring my water, so is this how you treat the wood?

Boil the wood for a couple hours, then soak in a bucket until the water in the bucket becomes clear.

Is that right?
Thanks!
I'll just be buying the wood from Petco or Petsmart.

Oh and I'm getting a 15g. I haven't gotten the tank yet, so I'll be curing the wood while I cycle my tank...

thats what i would do.

 

[mandy2936]

Hey guys thanks for the help

Seems like a lot of trouble just for this wood I wanted to use as decoration...
Will it be okay if I just use fake driftwood? I'm hoping it will be as realistic as possible.

I'm stocking the tank with all male Guppies, a shoal of Julii Cories, and possiby a school of Tetras. Will the Cories mind that their driftwood is fake? Is real driftwood beneficial to them?

Thanks again,

 

[mgamer20o0]

well fake wood just looks like that fake.... there is nothing wrong with tannins and some fish prefer them. boiling wood isnt that bad really. its possible to get some preleeched wood but you will pay for it.

 

[mandy2936]

Thanks. I'll look for that. I'm gonna have to ask the pet store employees about their wood to see if it preleeched... I have a feeling they won't know...

Anyways, boiling is not the major problem for me, it's just that it has to go through this whole soaking process for 2 weeks and even then my water may be tan... And I dont want, I would like clear water! lol

 

[Crepe]

My lfs sells preleeched wood. You just have to ask.

 

[mgamer20o0]

Thanks. I'll look for that. I'm gonna have to ask the pet store employees about their wood to see if it preleeched... I have a feeling they won't know...

Anyways, boiling is not the major problem for me, it's just that it has to go through this whole soaking process for 2 weeks and even then my water may be tan... And I dont want, I would like clear water! lol

you dont have to soak it just keep boiling it until the water is clear.

 

[mandy2936]

Thanks mgamer, but after doing a little research, a lot of people have said that they just can't get the wood to stop leaking tannins, only reduced.

I'm a beginner and don't want to have to deal with brown water, I didn't relize there was a whole big process with driftwood, I just thought it looked nice, lol

However, if I can find some at my LFS that has been cured, I may get it because if I can find it in a tank rather then just on the shelf I can see if the waters clear. If I buy it from their tank at the store, can I add it to my tank right away?
Thank you,

 

[mgamer20o0]

well its not brown but tea color and thta just depends on how much it leeches plus if you running carbon and how often you change the water. not really because it might still be leeching just cant tell since most lfs have connected tanks. put a small driftwood in a 100 gallon tank you couldnt tell put it in a 10 gallon and you can. some people even use black water extract to get that look.

if you boil it a lot then the tank will sit when cycling 4-6 weeks higher chance it will be fine before you are done.

 

[Crepe]

Have any friends with ponds? Ask them if you can sink your DW into their pond for a few weeks. That's how I get my DW leeched and ready to use. I just plop them into my koi pond and fish them out later. They end up being chock full of good bacteria but you may have to scrub them with Hydrogen Peroxide and a toothbrush to kill the algae on them.

 

[mandy2936]

No sorry, I don't have any friends with ponds..

 

[BlackMagic]

all u do is pretty much just boil it.

 

[maxima423]

yep, boiling helps a lot