My Tanks Journey

[abrage22]

I guess I could boil it, i'd have to boil little sections of it at a time though being that its so large.

 

[abrage22]

It looks like a spoon! Lol. Great find!

Yea , I'm thinking of somehow sticking some java fern or something in the big hole.

 

[roydooms]

I guess I could boil it, i'd have to boil little sections of it at a time though being that its so large.

That's what I did with the last piece I boiled. I could only boil 1/3 of it at a time. Flipping it every few minutes then pour the water in the sink(plugged?so it won't drain) and let the DW soak until the water is not that hot.

 

[abrage22]

That's what I did with the last piece I boiled. I could only boil 1/3 of it at a time. Flipping it every few minutes then pour the water in the sink(plugged?so it won't drain) and let the DW soak until the water is not that hot.

Sounds good, i'll have to do that. Did you do anything after that, or did you just put it in the tank?

 

[roydooms]

I let it cool down to room temp before putting in the tank so that it won't affect(or minimal) the tank's temperature.

 

[abrage22]

I hope it lowers my pH and helps keep it stable. The hard, and soft water from my tap is just always all over the place

 

[roydooms]

I hope it lowers my pH and helps keep it stable. The hard, and soft water from my tap is just always all over the place

Hard and soft water from your tap? Isn't it either your tap is soft or hard and can't be both? The tannin is the one lowering your pH. If you boil the DW to leech out the tannins then it will defeat the purpose. The DW will eventually stop leeching tannins and stop lowering your pH and stop making your water Softer.

 

[abrage22]

No, what I mean is I have soft water inside the house from the water softener, and hard water from outside. Oh and another thought, what about the dw sinking? Doesn't it need to be submerged for a while in order to not float?

 

[Homedog98]

No, what I mean is I have soft water inside the house from the water softener, and hard water from outside. Oh and another thought, what about the dw sinking? Doesn't it need to be submerged for a while in order to not float?

It looks like root wood... So it should sink on it's own. If it doesn't... Hold it down with a rock.

 

[roydooms]

No, what I mean is I have soft water inside the house from the water softener, and hard water from outside. Oh and another thought, what about the dw sinking? Doesn't it need to be submerged for a while in order to not float?

Have you checked if the DW will float or sink? Boiling will help getting the wood water logged. Also like what homedog said, you can attach a rock to it to keep it from floating.

 

[abrage22]

Yea I've tried, and it floated. I do have some nice big rocks though, so I guess I could do that. How would you get a rock aquarium safe?

 

[roydooms]

Test the rock with vinegar. If it bubbles, it is not safe for aquarium.

 

[roydooms]

You can clean it with water and vinegar solution or bleach water solution. I believe it's one part bleach 20 parts water. Rinse until you don't smell bleach anymore then the last rinse is with dechlorinated water.

 

[abrage22]

Awesome, thank you for your help!

 

[roydooms]

You're welcome

 

[abrage22]

Ok so I finally tried boiling the driftwood today. However the base is just way to large, and I couldn't fit 3/4 of the driftwood into the biggest pot I had. So I just boiled water and poured it over the wood, hopefully that will be good enough. Another question, how often should one clean their filter? I have the aquaclear 50 and for a couple weeks now it's had brown algae all inside it. Also, between the foam, biomax, and carbon media, how often should you replace them.. if at all??

 

[roydooms]

Ok so I finally tried boiling the driftwood today. However the base is just way to large, and I couldn't fit 3/4 of the driftwood into the biggest pot I had. So I just boiled water and poured it over the wood, hopefully that will be good enough. Another question, how often should one clean their filter? I have the aquaclear 50 and for a couple weeks now it's had brown algae all inside it. Also, between the foam, biomax, and carbon media, how often should you replace them.. if at all??

I clean mine once a month with the old tank water when I do a PWC.

 

[abrage22]

Ok I bought some polyfill. Should I put it on the bottom of the media cartridge? Also I see a lot of people like to remove the carbon from their filter, so should I do the same and just replace the extra room with some of the polyfill?

 

[abrage22]

Well, this is depressing... I cleaned my filter tonight and took out the carbon. I added the polyfill only to end up with half of it in the tank. I netted it all out except a few strands of it. At one point when I put my filter back on the tank, a bunch of debris came spilling out into the water making it a mess. I just checked on the tank, its cleared up now, but all 4 tetras have now lost their color and are looking real sad. All the parameters are fine, so we'll see how they are in the morning.

 

[abrage22]

Actually, I just read on a few other websites that they tend to lose their color at night. Hopefully this is why their looking so droopy...