aquariumlover10
Aquarium Advice Freak
Driftwood leaking tannic acid and floats even though I soaked it in water for 3 whole weeks.
Anyone know what to do with it?
Anyone know what to do with it?
driftwood
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BBradbury
Aquarium Advice Addict
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Your Driftwood
Hello aqua...
Don't fret. The tannic acid isn't harmful. At worst, the acid will drop the pH of your tank a tiny bit and the water will change to a slight tan color. A few larger water changes will take care of this.
Driftwood takes just about forever to become saturated, depending on the kind and must be weighed down with something heavy like a few larger rocks. You can surely locate some locally if this type of activity is legal in your area. The rocks make the tank look natural. Stretch your legs a bit and go looking for some rocks.
B
Driftwood leaking tannic acid and floats even though I soaked it in water for 3 whole weeks.
Hello aqua...
Don't fret. The tannic acid isn't harmful. At worst, the acid will drop the pH of your tank a tiny bit and the water will change to a slight tan color. A few larger water changes will take care of this.
Driftwood takes just about forever to become saturated, depending on the kind and must be weighed down with something heavy like a few larger rocks. You can surely locate some locally if this type of activity is legal in your area. The rocks make the tank look natural. Stretch your legs a bit and go looking for some rocks.
B
OP
OP
aquariumlover10
Aquarium Advice Freak
Do you know how long to boil the wood I was reseaching on the internet and found out that you can boil the wood to get the tannic acid out but I don't know how long to boil it do you know how to.
BBradbury
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- May 24, 2011
- Messages
- 5,011
Boiling Driftwood
Hello again aqua...
Boiling the piece is mainly for removing more of the tannins, it doesn't do much to saturate it to the point it sinks on it's own, only a long time in the tank will do that. I've had pieces in some of my tanks for a couple of years and without the weight of some rocks, they'd still float just below the water's surface.
If you want a piece that will sink immediately, then I recommend getting pieces of Mopani wood from the pet store or on online. These are a bit pricey, but most sink right away and are real wood.
B
Hello again aqua...
Boiling the piece is mainly for removing more of the tannins, it doesn't do much to saturate it to the point it sinks on it's own, only a long time in the tank will do that. I've had pieces in some of my tanks for a couple of years and without the weight of some rocks, they'd still float just below the water's surface.
If you want a piece that will sink immediately, then I recommend getting pieces of Mopani wood from the pet store or on online. These are a bit pricey, but most sink right away and are real wood.
B
Some DW never waterlogs and sinks after drying out. All you have to do is get a suitable piece of heavy slate and drill a hole in it and the bottom of the DW. Use a stainless steel screw/s to put them together. Then put the slate on the bottom of the tank and cover it with your substrate. Both my large pieces of DW in my 220g have slate bottoms to keep it anchored. As for tannins again some wood can leach tannins for months or even years. I had a piece that was still leaching after 5 years and finally removed it to use in the garden. Using Purgin in your filter can pull tannins out of the water very well and even tho it's costly to buy you can regenerate it over and over again for continued use.
I swear I boiled my driftwood for about 8-10 hours because it kept turning the water so brown...BUT that may have been a little excessive because even though it was turning the water a lil brown still at the end it didn't discolor my tank water. It's been in there for months now too. I think the hotter water makes it leak more tannins. Anyhow. Just be sure to watch it like a hawk so you don't boil all the water down..like I umm may have done.
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