I need a step by step guide to get driftwood into my tank

[micaiah12]

So I got some Malaysian driftwood from Zilla I got it via Amazon. So I would like to know how to get it into my tank without tannis and other bad stuff.

 

[adammorrill]

What alot of people do is either boil it on you stove if it is small enough, or they put it in their dishwasher. If you put it it the dishwasher dont use soap. Just keep doing one of these until the water turns the color you like. I had to boil and soak my mopani driftwood for about 2 weeks, and it still leeched tanins into my water.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

You can also submerge it in your bath tub and change the water (with hot) every day. Personally I don't even do that any more. I just chuck it in the tank after a ride through the dishwasher (no soap!!), then weigh it down with stones in the tank. I then change the tank water as needed. I do have hard water though and the tannin doesn't have a huge impact on the pH.

 

[jcolon]

So I got some Malaysian driftwood from Zilla I got it via Amazon. So I would like to know how to get it into my tank without tannis and other bad stuff.

Trying to completely avoid tannins may not be possible, but boiling for an hour or so while constantly changing the water will greatly leach out a ton of tannins.

A couple of trips through a dishwasher as mentioned also works. No detergent and on high temp setting ... At least two runs.

 

[bud29]

adammorrill gave a good answer. Boil it, soak it, or put it in the dishwasher. Also, about the dishwasher: some newer dishwashers automatically put rinsing agents into the water. Make sure your dishwasher has no rinse agents in it before putting it in.

Actually, I am in the process of boiling some Mopani wood myself. I didn't have a pot big enough, so I boil half of it at a time, with the other half sticking out of the pot. Altogether I have been boiling that wood for about 15 hours (turning around the wood and changing the water every hour), and there are still tons of tannins. Then, when I go to bed, I put it in a bucket full of water and let it soak overnight. I believe I am going to boil it until little to no tannins are leeched out when soaked.

 

[jcolon]

adammorrill gave a good answer. Boil it, soak it, or put it in the dishwasher. Also, about the dishwasher: some newer dishwashers automatically put rinsing agents into the water. Make sure your dishwasher has no rinse agents in it before putting it in.

Actually, I am in the process of boiling some Mopani wood myself. I didn't have a pot big enough, so I boil half of it at a time, with the other half sticking out of the pot. Altogether I have been boiling that wood for about 15 hours (turning around the wood and changing the water every hour), and there are still tons of tannins. Then, when I go to bed, I put it in a bucket full of water and let it soak overnight. I believe I am going to boil it until little to no tannins are leeched out when soaked.

I'm convinced Mopani is just one big tannin. I never boiled mine when I first started, but judging by how brown and for how long the 75gallons in my tank got ... It probably would've needed a day of boiling over and over.

 

[bud29]

I'm convinced Mopani is just one big tannin. I never boiled mine when I first started, but judging by how brown and for how long the 75gallons in my tank got ... It probably would've needed a day of boiling over and over.

Yeah, I boiled it for 7 hours yesterday, and it's been boiling since noon today and there seems to only be a slight drop in the amount of tannins coming out.

 

[micaiah12]

Alright I heard the you can stick it in a ten gallon bucket of warm water for a week. Keep on changing water till its clear.

 

[bud29]

Yeah, I just boiled mine because boiling brings out the tannins at a much faster rate than just soaking. For instance: soaking it in a bucket, tannins start coming out after about an hour and a half. Boiling it, it takes about 15-20 minutes. However, boiling brings out so much more than soaking it's hard to get an idea of how many tannins will actually be leeched out into your tank. That's why I do both

 

[hpiguy]

I use one of those 20 gallon Rubbermaid storage tubs they sell at Home Depot for $5.

Drop the wood in, put something on it to sink it, replace the cover and aside from changing the water daily ignore it on the deck for a while in the summer. After changing the water every day for around two weeks it seems to be sufficient to leach out enough color to allow me to stick it in a tank.

I use a black container and on the South facing deck it gets warm enough, over 100F. Not boiling or even close, but I think it helps more than cold water.

Never tired the dishwasher method. Maybe I will next time and see if it speeds up the process. I have a Foster Smith order coming with some wood in it, might be the time to test both methods side by side and see what happens.

 

[gobluewolverines4]

Just went through the process of boiling my mopani for 2 days, soaking overnight. It was still dark. But eventually I just got bored and put it in. The color is actually nice!

 

[christine2012]

I use one of those 20 gallon Rubbermaid storage tubs they sell at Home Depot for $5.

Drop the wood in, put something on it to sink it, replace the cover and aside from changing the water daily ignore it on the deck for a while in the summer. After changing the water every day for around two weeks it seems to be sufficient to leach out enough color to allow me to stick it in a tank.

I use a black container and on the South facing deck it gets warm enough, over 100F. Not boiling or even close, but I think it helps more than cold water.

Never tired the dishwasher method. Maybe I will next time and see if it speeds up the process. I have a Foster Smith order coming with some wood in it, might be the time to test both methods side by side and see what happens.

Yes! +1 to everything. This is exactly what I do. I also salt it for sterilization. I tend to like big wood though (chuckles) that doesn't fit in a pot or a dishwasher.