How to treat Mopani driftwood?

[NadiaG]

I bought a small piece of Mopani wood and wanted to know how to treat it before I put it in a tank. I know it supposed to leak a lot if tannin... The reason I got it is to slowly lower pH in a tank so I am aware of its capabilities. How do I cure it properly so it doesn't color the water in the tank? Thank

 

[Mebbid]

Coloring the water in your tank and lowering your pH goes hand in hand. The same chemical is responsible for both. If you're worried about the tea colored water I would suggest adding purigen to your filter. Otherwise carbon will work as well.

To treat it I would just boil it for an hour or so and throw it in the tank. However I already run purigen so am not worried about the water changing color. If you want to leech all the tannins out just soak the wood for a month or two changing out the water when it gets dark.

What is your pH normally at if you are looking to lower it?

 

[NadiaG]

Thanks. My pH is 7.5 and my tetras are doing well in it. With time, I would like to make it just slightly acidic, more ideal to them. Although, I realize that steady pH is way more important to fish health than ideal conditions. This is why I do not want to use over the counter ph adjusters. Wanted to do it naturally and gradually.

 

[BBradbury]

Preparing Driftwood

I bought a small piece of Mopani wood and wanted to know how to treat it before I put it in a tank. I know it supposed to leak a lot if tannin... The reason I got it is to slowly lower pH in a tank so I am aware of its capabilities. How do I cure it properly so it doesn't color the water in the tank? Thank

Hello Nadia...

The Mopani wood I've used is very hard, so I didn't have the problem with tannic acid as with most other pieces. I just rinsed it well in some of my replacement water and put it into the tank. The pieces I used sank right away, so I didn't have to weigh them down with rocks.

Tannic acid won't hurt anything and a few large water changes will clear the amber color.

B

 

[NadiaG]

Sounds good! I should be getting the wood on Monday, planning on boiling it for a bit, then let it sit for a day or two. It is a small piece so I don't think it will color the water much after that.

 

[BBradbury]

Preparing Driftwood

Sounds good! I should be getting the wood on Monday, planning on boiling it for a bit, then let it sit for a day or two. It is a small piece so I don't think it will color the water much after that.

Hello again...

Boiling wood will soften the fibers and the piece won't stay together in the tank as long as rinsing only. There's nothing in or on the wood that would harm the tank inhabitants. If you're concerned about bacteria, then soak the piece in a bucket of your new, treated tap water for a day or two with a tablespoon of standard aquarium salt. Any bacteria that may be living on the piece, and this is very remote, won't live long in the salty water.

After a day or so, you can rinse the piece in some pure, treated tap water and put it into the tank.

B

 

[NadiaG]

Good point, thank you for correction. So glad this forum exists!

 

[Mebbid]

Hello Nadia...

The Mopani wood I've used is very hard, so I didn't have the problem with tannic acid as with most other pieces. I just rinsed it well in some of my replacement water and put it into the tank. The pieces I used sank right away, so I didn't have to weigh them down with rocks.

Tannic acid won't hurt anything and a few large water changes will clear the amber color.

B

Mopani has a higher concentration of tannins than just abut any other wood out there. After boiling a single piece of mopani for 4 hours and letting it soak for 2 weeks with a water change every 3 days because the water would turn nearly black it still turned my tank a dark brown every week. I tried looking for a pic that matched my tank and found this although it's not quite dark enough to match my tank on a weekly basis.

Again, I don't mind the tannins but it drives other people absolutely nuts.


The softening of the wood when boiling is a good point and is exactly the reason why I avoid boiling driftwood that I scavenge myself but like you said mopani is a very dense very hard wood. Any effect boiling has on wood is minimal when used on mopani.

It is an interesting point to note that any type of bacteria should be nearly nonexistant on a piece of driftwood which is true. But I look at it more along the lines of I don't know who was touching it and what was on their hands.

Lastly, just be forewarned; mopani is notorious for developing a white cottony fungus like growth on it. It's perfectly harmless and I've never heard of people having fish losses due to it. The best way I found to remove it is by using a turkey baster.

 

[NadiaG]

Interesting.... Well, I decided I will not boil it for sure to better preserve the wood.
As far as bacteria I will soak it in water with aquarium salt.
For the tannin leeching, I suppose I'll keep it in water for a few days just to see how bad it'll color it. It looked pretty bad on a picture but it seems there is a huge log of it too. Mine is small and if it leeches a little - I'm fine with that, as long as it doesn't turn it really dark.

 

[flitabout]

I soaked mine for about 2 day and then boiled it for a few hours. I lost patience and just wanted to get it in the tank. Mine has never leached. But every piece is different. If you have patience I would say soak it in a bucket just add hot tap then dump the water everyday until you are happy with the color of the water.

 

[NadiaG]

I got my Mopani, yay! It is a neat piece, I like it a lot! As advised, I didn't boil the wood. I rinsed it and put in a bowl with hot water, it's been first 6 hours now and yes, it leeches a lot... Will keep on routine of changing water till it gets light color.

 

[Tleyton]

My mopani leeched a lot! I used Purigen in my canister filter and my water was beautifully clear 24 hours later. Just a little something I learned

 

[NadiaG]

Ok, so I soaked my Mopani driftwood for over a week now, it barely leached anymore...

And today, was the happy day and I got to put it in the tank! Yay, so excited! It looks awesome, adds that natural look to it. I'm getting there!