solutions to driftwood leaking tanins

[philc21]

my driftwood is leaking tannins what are some things i can do to fix this right now im soaking it in water but i have no way to keep that water warm so i dontno if it will work if there is n e other ways can you guys let me know and if the only way is to soak it how long would it take

[TKOS]

Soaking and changing the water over a couple of weeks usually gets rid of most. Then if the tank water is getting yellow, fresh carbon usually does the trick.

[fishdude]

soak it in a big bucket

[NJ Devils Fan]

Yes, if you have an empty garbage can or something, put the wood in and completely cover the wood with boiling water. Do it at night and leave it until the next night and do it again and again until the water is no longer brown.

[yhbae]

Soak it for few months if your patient lasts that long... :D

I did weekly soaking in boiling water, and change water every few days. After about 2 months, I didn't detect any tannin...

[chefkeith]

I have a few large pieces of wood that I'm treating right now. One thing I did was put them in the bathtub and let them soak in hot water for a few hours. The water doesn't have to be boiling hot. If you have a dishwasher and the wood fits inside it, I'd give that a shot too.

I have some pic's of my wood here-

http://home.comcast.net/~chefkeithallen/page1.html

[cblin]

It'd take forever to try to get rid of the tanin by soaking the drift wood, at least it seemed like an eternity. I'd try soaking the driftwood and changing water couple times a day for two days. Afterwards, you can go ahead and put the driftwood in the tank however, just add carbon to your filter media should prevent your tank from turning completely brown.

[fishdude]

holy crap thats a big peice of wood how big is your tank?

[Leopardess]

If it'll fit, just plain boil it. Give it a good cooking for a few hours, changing the water as necessary.


But just doing water changes in the tank will help - and your fish will love you for it:)

[Gulp]

Originally posted by fishdude
holy crap thats a big peice of wood how big is your tank?


http://home.comcast.net/~chefkeithallen/page2.html

I was wondering the same thing. :D


I am currently boiling a few pieces myself for my 110. My pot isn't big enough to completely submerge the pieces, so I just flip them every other day. Water is still very brown after a good boiling, so I will just keep boiling for a few days.

[chefkeith]

Originally posted by fishdude
holy crap thats a big peice of wood how big is your tank?

The tank is 6'x2'x1'. I cut that large piece into 3 smaller pieces.

The wood is not in the tank yet. I'm letting the tank cycle first.

I'll treat the wood a few more times before I put it in my tank though. I just soak it in hot water for about 4 hours and add a little bit of bleach to the water. Then repeat that a few times.

[as40]

It's quick and easy, especially if you're dealing with large pieces of wood. I recently had a problem where my driftwood and bogwood was fungus-infested. So to take care of that I bleached my wood. It not only took out any tanins the wood may have had in it, but it made my wood nearly white! The process of how I went about treating my wood is outlined below:

1. Bleaching process: 14 quart trash can filled with wood, bleach, and water (bleach/water ratio 1:14). I let this sit for 24 hours or so.

2. Drain, rinse! I rinsed out my trash can super good with warm water, filling and draining several times, as well as rinsing the wood the same way.

3. Refill trash can with water and wood. Let sit for one hour. Drain.

4. Repeat step 3.

5. Refill trash can yet again, this time adding a dechlor solution to the water (about 4 - 10 times the recommended dose). Let sit for 24 hours.

6. Drain, refill, go through steps 3 and 4 again, then step 5 once more.

7. Drain, completely dry out wood. Looks like bones at this point, but trust me, will look a bit darker after re-submerged.

8. Once dried out, back into the trash can for another soak! This time again with a huge amount of dechlor solution added to the water, let soak for about 36 hours.

9. Drain, let wood dry out once again, then it's ready to go back into the tank.

The whole process only took about two weeks, and I didn't have to fiddle with boiling water. It is completely safe as long as you make sure to super soak your wood like I've outlined above. I haven't had any problems with fungus ever since either. ;)

[chefkeith]

as40- Sounds like a Nice procedure. Some of my pieces won't even fit in a 55 gallon trash can and just barely fit in the bath tub. My bogwood/driftwood range from 2 feet long to 6 feet long. I had one piece that was well over 6 feet long, so I had to cut it so it would fit in my tank.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

hydrogen peroixide bleaches the tannins and you dont get any at all ive used it for years with no problems just coat the wood at least 10 times with the HP to get it to soat right into it and no tannin problems. 3% strenth does the trick but higher would work better in sure