Tannins and Bogwood - My First Mistake?

[trafficjam]

Day 1 - Set up my new 30 gal. freshwater community tank last night after the wife's utimatum to get it running or lose it (in all fairness it had been sitting unassembled since last Dec!). No fish yet, just letting the tank settle for a few days...

In my haste made my FIRST MISTAKE and please need some help and advice! I put in two large pieces of untreated bogwood. Of course, the tannins are leaching out like crazy and my water has turned into light brown iced tea.

HERE'S MY DILEMMA: Do I take the wood out, boil, soak and treat for a couple of weeks as I have now learned is necessary and empty the water from the tank and start from scratch - OR-

Let nature run it's course and add charcol to my filter to clear the water?

I do not mind the colour too much although clearer water would be better, I am more worried about the effect on PH and if this will limit the fish that I choose to add? I also want to have live plants!

What should I do? Any posts are VERY much appreciated as I am an extreme novice.

 

[Fruitbat]

trafficjam...

Activated charcoal will clear your water up very nicely but the bogwood will continue to leach tannins into the water until they are depleted. If the color isn't objectionable to you then this really isn't an issue. I have, in the past, deliberately used 'uncured' wood to produce the 'blackwater' effect for tanks that held fish like Neon Tetras. The effect on pH probably won't be dramatic. What kinds of fish are you thinking about putting in your aquarium?

It would probably be best for you to remove the wood and cure it by boiling and soaking. You don't need to remove all the water...just run some activated charcoal in your filter to take out the tannins that are there.

 

[shawmutt]

Let nature run it's course and add charcol to my filter to clear the water?

I do not mind the colour too much although clearer water would be better, I am more worried about the effect on PH and if this will limit the fish that I choose to add? I also want to have live plants!

You could add charcoal and wait, but some people (and fish) actually desire the tea-colored water. A lot of S.A. fish and some Asian and Indian fish are from black-water areas, where tannins leach out of the wood, and the water is softened. There's a black-water setup in my gallery.

 

[trafficjam]

Thanks for the ideas but the Wife overruled the very cool 'blackwater' idea as it doesn't fit her "design" sensibilities and so unfortunately the bogwood is now gone out of the tank and downstairs soaking in some hot water.

Did a 50 % water change, nothing to lose as this is day one with no fish and it cleared up the water a bit. Will probably do another 50% water change tomorrow and start from scratch.

Tank kind looks empty now...any ideas? Guess I'll need either some nice resin wood or have to wait a few weeks until the bogwood boils clean.

 

[shawmutt]

The stump on the right of the blackwater tank is fake $10 from petsmart--looks real

 

[wxboilermaker]

i know exactly what that's like. My tank did the same thing. Took about 2 months to finally clear up (with biweekly water changes). Fish loved it tho I would watch out if you decide to boil it. I have heard that boiling wood starts to break it down, so it will start to decay and fall apart much faster then if you just let it cure by itself.

 

[Bounce]

Dough!...I guess yer supposed to just boil the wood and not the fish? ....but seriously folks...I just finished setup w/ 55 gallon and am reading about how plecos like to consume wood fibers for roughage, and how tannins are good for fish coloration...should I bring in some wood from the Peace River here in FL?...or get the fake stuff?...Boil or Soak?....

4 giant danios,2 pink gourms,4 rosy barbs, 3 clown loach,3 balloon mollies, 3 mosquito fish, and 2 Pleco