Adding Bogwood, What To Do/expect?

[fatheadminnow]

What should be done when getting bogwood for an aquarium?

What should I do to "prep" the wood for my aquarium? Should I soak it in water so it can become water-logged before putting it in ma aquarium? Pour boiling water over it to kill any parasites?

After the bogwood is in my tank, what can I expect? Ph Dropping at all?

If it does not sick, what can be done to hold it at the bottom?

I just want to make sure I do this right so nothing bad happens as an outcome.

Thanks
-FHM

 

[RedeyesUK]

I assume you're getting some 'proper' bogwood, ie from a fish shop as opposed to something you found in a stream?

If so, you'll need to either soak it for a week or two to get the worst of the tannins out, or if possible, boil it for a couple of hours. Once you've done this, you should find it will sink quite nicely and give you no problems.

Once it's in, you might find a small drop in Ph, nothing to get too concerned over (unless it's massive in relation to your tank size), and possibly a bit of staining of your water for a few weeks due to tannins leeching out. This is nothing to worry about, and you can waterchange to get rid of that if you don't like the way it looks.

 

[fatheadminnow]

I assume you're getting some 'proper' bogwood, ie from a fish shop as opposed to something you found in a stream?

If so, you'll need to either soak it for a week or two to get the worst of the tannins out, or if possible, boil it for a couple of hours. Once you've done this, you should find it will sink quite nicely and give you no problems.

Once it's in, you might find a small drop in Ph, nothing to get too concerned over (unless it's massive in relation to your tank size), and possibly a bit of staining of your water for a few weeks due to tannins leeching out. This is nothing to worry about, and you can waterchange to get rid of that if you don't like the way it looks.

Yes, I will be buying it from my LFS.

So if I do not want to wait 2 weeks while it is soaking; boiling it for a couple hours will do the same thing and have the same effect?

Thanks for your reply!
-FHM

 

[RedeyesUK]

So if I do not want to wait 2 weeks while it is soaking; boiling it for a couple hours will do the same thing and have the same effect?

Pretty much, yes.

Just be careful though - if you boil wood, all those tannins have to go somewhere! In my case, they ended up staining the inside of the pan I used (luckily it was an old one), and made lots of brown water stains all over the kitchen ceiling. It took me an hour to scrub them all off. Fortunately I have an understanding girlfriend!

 

[Craster]

Boiling it will not stop it leeching tannins completely, you'll need to soak it for that. What I tend to do is stick it in a bucket/sink/bath (depending on size), and cover with hot water. I then replace the hot water every 12 hours or so until the bogwood no longer affects the colour of the water.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Thanks for the replies thus far!

So after the bogwood is safe for the water, I should expect the Ph to drop sightly? What if it drops below 7.0? It is around 7.6 right now.

-FHM

 

[RedeyesUK]

^^ Which is really just a slower version of boiling!

I'd agree that soaking is better, but for those in a hurry...
Ultimately, tannins are unsightly at worst in the tank, some people actually prefer the look of it, and it won't really harm anything in the tank. The aim of soaking/boiling is to just get the worst of it out, I've got some wood in one of my tanks that is still leeching a little after being in the tank for four months! Plus two weeks soaking and a couple of hours boiling. YMMV.

 

[GSD]

I soaked mine for days and it still leaked, in the end i gave up and used slate instead
I would boil it and then soak while changing the water until the water stays clear.

 

[Smoothy]

I put mine in the dishwasher

Had it soaking for a week in hot water from the tap, as I was running the water over it scrubbed it with a brush ... changed water every day, dishwasher, then soaked it again for a few days ... hardly giving off any tannins now it's in the tank

 

[fatheadminnow]

For all of you that have put bogwood in you tanks....what were the results of your Ph afterward?

Have any of you had your Ph drop below a safe level?

And, what should be done if your Ph drops way too low? Remove the Bogwood?

What does a very low Ph have effect on in a tank/fish?

-FHM

 

[Fisses]

I bought my mopani wood from pets at home, gave it a quick wash in bath to get most tannins out, then chucked straigh in my tank, the water went slightly brown but after a few water changes its never gone brown again