Driftwood Questions

boulderman1

boulderman1

AC Members
Aug 8, 2006
237
1
0
Chicago, IL
-is there any way to prevent or remove tannis from a tank when adding driftwood

-are the metal screws used to attach a piece of drfitwood to a slate base that i bought at my lfs safe in an aquarium? i just wanted to make sure metal wasn't harmful or something

thanks
 
Activated carbon in the filter removed the brown look after a couple days when I added my driftwood.

As for the screws, I was told that it was such an extremely small amount of metal that it was nothing to worry about. I can't guarantee that though!
 
If you can boil it first that will help - you will still have some leeched into the water but this will fade over time. Carbon does help as does water changes.
 
If it does have a screw and you can not verify it is stainless steel, you could replace it with a SS screw from the hardware store. The less metal the better for me. Or use sealant to glue it to a piece of slate.
 
the screws are matte silver in color is that helps at all
 
Best way to remove tannins is to boil the driftwood. You'll need to boil it until the water in the pot is no longer brown. Keep changing out the water for fresh stuff when the water starts to darken. This process can take quite a few hours, depending on how big the piece of wood is, and will only reduce tannin leakage. It may still leach a little into your tank for some time afterward, but you can remove this when necessary with carbon in your filter for a day or so.
 
A good quality stainless steel screw will not hold a magnet.

Low quality SS screws or zinc coated galvanized ones will.
 
I personnaly like the way the tannins make the water look. More more natural.
 
If you have fish who prefer soft, acidic waters (your 37 gallon stock list is exactly that) then the tannins are actually very desirable and you should want them.
 
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