I just bought some driftwood and was wondering how long it would take for it to not taint my aquarium with its coloration ( i understand that the color is actually good for the ph quality of the water ). I have boiled the wood about 10x over a period of 2 days and have noticed that its taking longer for the color to seep out of the wood and in less color intensity each time. Do i have to wait for the water to be absolutely clear in the pot in order to be secure even after an immense boiling session ? I let the wood sit in the pot overnight submerged in water and the next morning all was clear, is this a sign that it is ready ?
Driftwood Color tainting aquarium water
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driftwood color tainting aquarium
So Chris now the driftwood after an hour of boiling is about the color of a light brown tea...if it were submerged in just 80 degree water would this coloring still come out or is it just due to the high heat in the boiling water ?
So Chris now the driftwood after an hour of boiling is about the color of a light brown tea...if it were submerged in just 80 degree water would this coloring still come out or is it just due to the high heat in the boiling water ?
librarygirl
Look It Up
It would probably still leech some tannins in the tank. Do you know what type of wood it is? Some wood leech tannins longer than others; some can leech for months. You can still put it into the tank though, it'll just turn the water color but it won't harm anything. Just keep an eye on PH as adding wood can often drop PH very low; in which case adding some crushed coral or argonite to the filter can help stabilize the PH until the wood stops leeching.
Unless the wood is true bogwood or its huge alittle tannin in the water isn't going to affect ph very much if at all. I actually have 3cu feet of high peat organic soil in my 220g tank and it took months for it to even slightly lower my Ph/Gh/Kh. If you don't like the tea color adding Purgen to your filter will remove the tannins out of the water. Personally I don't mind alittle tannins in the water since they have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.
Aski247
Aquarium Advice Addict
You could start running carbon to help take it out.
bobc4d
Aquarium Advice Freak
I bought a piece from PetCo, didn't boil it and it took bout 5 months for it reduce the tannin leaching
Different types of DW release different amounts of tannins and some don't leech any tannins yet there are some that will never stop leeching tannins no matter how much you boil it or how many years you leave it in a tank. I have a piece like that once and finally after about a year I retired it to the garden.
This helps a lot. I boiled some Mopani for 4 days and once in the tank the water became herbal tea colored. I had an unused carbon thingy for my tetra whisper filter and I popped it in the tank floating near the filter output. It cleared significantly overnight.
The only problem with Carbon is that if you have a piece of DW that leeches tannins for months Carbon doesn't have that long of an absorbtion period and would have to be replace many times whereas Purgen can last up to 6 months. So while Purgen costs more up front to use, it lasts a long time. Carbon is much cheaper but with it needing to be replaced more often the price can add up over a 6 month period. Both do the job tho when it comes to tannins.
Aski247
Aquarium Advice Addict
You can buy large tubs of carbon, and use pantyhose to hold it. Very cheap. You don't have to buy "name brand" type carbon pouches.
calfishguy
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would get purigen I had a large bag of carbon in both my hob when I had tannins and could barely notice the difference. But when I got the purigen wow was I impressed. Within 48 hours my water was almost crystal clear.
I love Purgen and have used it for years. Actually I use it exclusively in all my tanks, even the 2 Fluval Edges we have. I just buy the 1 liter jar and use knee-hi panty hose to make whatever size bags I need.
