driftwood curing special concerns

[urville]

i found some driftwood. man SOME WYo driftwood is awesome.
it is what i believe is either cottonwood or dogwood.
started soaking it last sunday. the first soak was boiling. i pour out and change the water every 24 hours, new water is HOT HOT from the tap. i put another piece of drift across it to hold it in the water. it has a big knot in the middle and is shaped like a boomerang. the knot always wants to float but as i'm approaching day 7 it doesnt float like it did and the wood feels much heavier. i think by day 14 the urge to float may be gone. also day 13 i was going to boil again before tank placement

questions
is it true that the boiling method brings down the life of wood from ten usable years before decomposing, to one year?

i know it can cause acidic levels over time alowly bringing down the ph which i dont mind as mine is 7.6 and what i consider a bit high. but is this only if you havent leeched alot of tannins?

i'm in the 6th day and my water is, and has been, more yellow than brown when changed. not sure this indicates anything. different tannins?

it was my understanding tannins are bad. true? false?

what about the water deep in the wood will this leech the chlorine thats in my tap later in the tank? i thought the last day i would use dechlorinator.

i know about doing this but then these questions seemed unanswered or i wasnt POSITIVE on them.
TIA anyone

 

[Meredith]

I hope some one answers you questions! It will save me from asking the same ones . I have been soaking a pice for a little less than a week and I have only changed the water once. Do you think the hot water has helped out with the floating problem?

 

[urville]

well a few answers i have gotten are that hot water does help get into the wood, and release tannins. think of a tea bag steeping.
thats why i cange every 24 hours to allow room for more tannins and refresh with hot water since by then it's about 64 degrees.
i figure it also helps make sure things are dead

 

[BrianNY]

As long as it's wood (and not rock), the leaching process will end. I've never heard of the statement "the life of wood". Wood being organic will decompose over time. Boiling will insure that any "nasties" will be killed.

I;m not one that thinks that whatever tannins are present in wood will be harmful, or have a large impact on lowering pH. I've soaked wood so that it will eventually sink. But after going through an ordinary leaching process (including boiling water), your driftwood will be aquarium safe.

 

[urville]

so as long as it sinks then i can boil again just to be extra safe and put it in wihtout worry to the tannins, which sooner or later will go away anyway?
what about the yellow but not brown, or is it just really diluted brown?

 

[Mofo2713]

Hey urville, it is just dilluted brown. I just got about 3 lbs of driftwood about 3 weeks ago. I boiled each piece in water for about 90 minutes after 1 weeks worth of changing the water in the bucket everyday. When I put the driftwood in my tank, you will still get a little bit of "black water" (that's what the tannins in the water are called) in your tank but as long as you have some carbon in your filter, this will remove the tannins completely in about 4-5 days after being in the aquarium. Sounds like you are on the right track. Once you get your driftwood to sink completely, boil it once and you should be good to go. Good luck with the driftwood.

 

[joedarat]

uh oh 8O , when I got the driftwood a few months ago.. I just dropped them in the tank.. they had weighted slates atttached to them.. I noticed the tank was a bit diluted brown for a couple days but then it away.. should i be worried?

I got them from bigalsonline, "driftwood arts" ... any good? or is that typical newb wood? bah.. im terrible

 

[Mofo2713]

no...you're fine. since they were slate mounted they had probably already been in the wtaer for awhile before. If they have been in there for a couple months and you haven't noticed any problems, you're good to go...

 

[Guest]

Are'nt there certain woods you want to be careful of using in aquariums , do to them leeching toxins into the water?

I wan't to gather some local wood for one of my tanks. It's mostly Pines and Junipers where I live. I did'nt reasearch much, but the little I did, it seems like Evergreens should'nt be used.

Best I can recall, Hardwoods are better to use in an aquarium. Anyone out there familiar with this? I've only seen hardwoods in any LFS I've been in.

I just order all my driftwood of Ebay, far cheaper than LFS.

 

[urville]

well pines arent very dense and contain TONS of sap. not sure on the effects...
i know yew, uh... man... and some others are toxic no matter how long you wait or rinse and what not... let me go see if i can find that list