red seeping timber

[mr magoo]

Hi, I have the most fantastic peice of timber of my tank, but the only problem with it is it turns the water a deep red/ orange colour. ( i tried it in a tank with no fish)
Has anyone got any good surgestions as to how i can stop it from changing water colour.
The man at the LFS said the timber he sells is chlorine dipped. Does anyone know how to do this so my fish wont die? :confused:

[Bantam]

do you know what sort of wood it is? did you get it from your lfs?

the most likely explanation is that it is mopani/bogwood or similar and it is merely leaching harmless tanins.

the only way to stop this is to take the wood out and soak it until it stops discolouring the water.

it won't do your fish any harm - to some it is very natural.

regards

[Slappy*McFish]

soak it in a container of very salty water for a few weeks. changing the water once a week. Bags of rock salt are good for this as is a trash can as the container. The salt will leach most of the tannins from the wood quicker than fresh water. Be sure to soak the wood in fresh water for a week after, to dissolve away any salt left in the wood, before adding it back to the tank. Some people use bleach, but I prefer the salt method.

[wetmanNY]

Your lfs owner's mysterious "chlorine dip" is Clorox! That won't leach out the tannins, which are beneficial --except to the fishes from alkaline waters.