Driftwood and added it to your tank?

Batmanjay28

Batmanjay28

AC Members
Aug 22, 2006
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Oregon
I purchased 3 large pieces of driftwood yesterday and started soating them in water. Today at about 3:00pm I looked in the buckets and the water was so yellow. What is the cause of this? What is somthing I can do to get my driftwood ready to be added to my tank? Because I don't want to add it to the tank if Its going to make my water yellow. What are somethings I can do to get the driftwood clean? Thank you
 
driftwood will make tannis(the yellow stuff) for a long time...it wont harm your tank at all,in fact it is good for your tank(or so I've heard...)
 
I added 2 pieces (each about 12x4x3) of driftwood from That Pet Place. Malaysian driftwood. Both sank immediately. Practically zero tannins produced in the water. No rot so far. Howard the pleco loves them.

Some driftwood will produce tannin in the water. That's the color you are seeing. Nothing harmful. It should go away in a few weeks. That is provided it is GOOD wood from a reliable source.

If the wood doesn't sink when you put it in the tank, soak it some more!
 
yes they are tannins..in the water they are diluted.
in the wood, it is part of the woods defense mechanism to bugs..
in general, they don't harm the fish as they are diluted enough to be rendered.
 
weekly water changes and put alot of carbon in your filter. change the carbon twice a month and then once a month and keep it up until the color is gone. it 'could' take many months.
 
You may be surprised by how it looks in the tank - I think the tinted water looks great if it isn't too dark. Mine is more of an amber color. It will lower the ph if that's a concern.
 
We added a large piece of Malaysian driftwood three days ago. It didn't make the water merky.....just changed the way light was diffused. It really looks gorgeous.....and lowered the ph to neutral over night. The fish love to swim throught it, too.
 
I have also heard that Seachem's Purigen is good for reducing some of the tannin color. Can be used instead of carbon, is cheaper and last much much longer.
 
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