View Full Version : bog wood
hammermlm
02-23-2005, 6:01 PM
can any of you guy's let me know what effect bog wood has on the water in a tank.
many thanks
WharfRat
02-23-2005, 6:21 PM
are we talking wood straight out of the wild ?
hammermlm
02-23-2005, 6:36 PM
no bought from a shop
Buying it from a shop can have several effects from my understanding.
1. It can leach tannins into your water, coloring it a slight yellow. Mine did that for about a week, kinda looked good. Boiling it prior to putting it in your tank can prevent this.
2. It can (so I've heard) lower the pH of your water a bit. I never saw mine drop any when I added our driftwood so I can't say with personal experiance about that.
That's about all I know it can/will do.
CharlieV
02-24-2005, 6:49 AM
I have bog wood (actually it's Mopani wood) bought form the LFS - it leached tannins and made my water look very natural. This can be cleared (so i have heard) by using activated carbon in the filter.
I aggree with A7ESF on the Ph question but I have had no experience myself with this. I have had my wood in my tank now for about 5 weeks and I boiled it for a couple of hours before putting it in. I have also read (on this forum and others) that if you soak it for a month most of the tannins will leach out minimising the discolouration of the water.
This is all based on stuff I've read as I'm a major league newbie at the moment!!!!
hope this helps a little
Chaz
Karnaaj
02-24-2005, 7:42 AM
Most bogwood is going to leach tannins into the water. How long this will go on varies. Boiling helps but rarely cures the problem. I've had pieces leach for a month, but I also have a piece that continues to leach after 7 years. Carbon will help remove the discoloration but has a short lifespan in the tank so it will need to be replaced often (expensive). If you have live plants carbon is not an option.
In the end the leaching ends up being no more than an inconvenience. If you do your weekly water changes you will keep the discoloration to a minimum.
...but I also have a piece that continues to leach after 7 years...
:thud: That must be a big piece of wood! Mine only did it for about 2 weeks so I guess I was fortunate.
CharlieV
02-24-2005, 8:31 AM
If you have live plants carbon is not an option.
Hi Karnaaj,
can you explain?
I have a rio 125 and at te top (under filter wool pad) I have an activated carbon filter "sponge". Juwel recommend changing every 6 weeks.
I only currently have a couple of plants but am picking a lot up from my LFS on Sat.
I wish to run a medium to heavy planted tank so should I remove the carbon filter?
Thanks in advance for any advice
hammermlm
02-24-2005, 3:07 PM
Most bogwood is going to leach tannins into the water. How long this will go on varies. Boiling helps but rarely cures the problem. I've had pieces leach for a month, but I also have a piece that continues to leach after 7 years. Carbon will help remove the discoloration but has a short lifespan in the tank so it will need to be replaced often (expensive). If you have live plants carbon is not an option.
In the end the leaching ends up being no more than an inconvenience. If you do your weekly water changes you will keep the discoloration to a minimum.
many thanks to you all,
i thought it was me doing somthing wrong.
thanks again guys
cawaltons
02-25-2005, 12:25 AM
Carbon will help remove the discoloration but has a short lifespan in the tank so it will need to be replaced often (expensive). If you have live plants carbon is not an option.
What do you mean? You can't have carbon in the filter? I have a newly planted tank. Do I need a different filter?
BTW, we put wood from the pet store in the tank about a month and a half ago. We soaked it in a bucket for a couple of days first -- no boiling. The water looked like tea for weeks. Now, the lighter coloration doesn't really bother me, but it does motivate me to keep up with weekly partial water changes!
Our fish and frogs love the wood, and I love the way it looks.