Bog Wood And Sand

[Bala Sharker]

so at the moment im on the second wash of my sand and have the bogwood soaking how long should i wash both for and is the bogwood able to go straight in without soaking

 

[benjoey]

When you add water and it stays clear after say 5 seconds of allowing the sand to settle I would say then that the sand is ok, presonally I soaked mopani wood for 2 weeks, but could reallh have done with soaking it for another week or two, I'm not sos sure with bogwood

 

[Bala Sharker]

to be honwst im not even sure it is bogwood but it looks like a root system, what would happen if i dint soak it for two or three weeks

 

[benjoey]

Im not sure to be honest, but i think most wood will normally release tannins into the water (which turn the water a brownish colour) and if you soak it for a couple of weeks it rmoves alot of the tannins but not all, so overall it means if you put the wood in straight away then you'll get browner water quicker. I dont believe the tannains are bad for fish, but they may change the pH of the water? please correct me if I'm wrong

 

[schmee]

Use boiling water on the wood or in fact boil it if you have a large enough pot as it releases the tannins faster, i believe. Soak the wood until the water is clear. If you don't soak it long enough/at all, it will leach tannins into your tank, making it took like tea, not water. As far as i understand the less you soak, the more tannins get into your tank, the more your pH will be lowered.

Ps. i'm not sure 2-3 weeks is the norm. i soaked mine in boiling water over night (although obviously it became cooler in this time). i soaked it in total for about 2 days and had no colour alteration in my tank. Some wood is also presoaked by the seller, so it might take less time, although i'd still always soak it to be sure.

 

[schmee]

Also to add, if you already have fish etc. in the tank, be wary of pH. Both sand and wood lower pH and i recently added both to my tank, which already had life in it. i soaked my wood until the water was clear and washed the sand thoroughly, but i think the sand was the main contributor and my pH dropped from 7.4 to 6.4 overnight. Luckily my fish were ok with it, but some are more sensitive.

 

[Bala Sharker]

cheers for the advice ill start boiling it now. my sand is taking a while to clear up bout six washes now have harlequin rasboras and a gourami in the tank at the moment is there anything i can do if the ph does drop in the tank to get it back up or will the fish just have to adapt

 

[benjoey]

think the fish should be ok because the pH will change gradually, I had harlequins when I added my ,opani wood which changed the pH and the were unaffected, as long as the gourami's are not too pH sensitive then I would say it's fine

 

[Bala Sharker]

is der any way of keeping the bog wood in place it keeps floating to the surface

 

[justjon]

You can boil it to death a bit more and this should stop it floating upwards (releases the oxygen from the wood).

 

[schmee]

Just keep soaking it. This is another reason for not putting it straight in the tank.

 

[JoshuaA]

to be honwst im not even sure it is bogwood but it looks like a root system, what would happen if i dint soak it for two or three weeks

Not sure if anyone pointed it out but if its mopani wood it is actually roots of the tree, hence why it looks like a root system. Comparing my piece of bogwood and my mopani wood I think the mopani wood has a bit more character to it and looks more interesting for the fish due to its hundreds of little crevices and small cave structures it makes.

I soaked my bogwood in my tank whilst I was "Cycling" it, by the end of the week (fast cycle due to bacteria) and the higher temperature I had, had my water at for the cycling purposes the wood has released most of it. After that when I had started the initial stocking it carried on slowly leeching but I enjoyed the look it gave and made my tank more of a tropical scene however I did every other day water changes (small though) and it's pretty much clean now however it will always release tannins.

For the whole floating thing even after boiling I just held it under water by hand and then slowly rotated it in every angle and air bubbles came out from every direction, then I just covered it with a few heavy rocks to keep in down.

For the sand it depends what method you are taking to wash it. If you're washing it in a bucket I think if you get a hose or just a violet swish with your hand with water in the bucket if all the sand settles down and it's crystal clear then you can safely say its clean. Though if it seems a bit milky then keep washing, putting a coin in the bottom is a good way of gauging how clean it is.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Don't worry about tannins in the water though. If you don't mind the look of it a lot of people say the fish and plants actually like it.