Bog wood leaking?

[Babyeggsmum]

I put a piece of bogwood into my new tank(no fish yet luckily!!)Anyway this morning the water is yellow!!What did I do wrong?(Ive taken it out now!!)

 

[Grim Reaper]

I put a piece of bogwood into my new tank(no fish yet luckily!!)Anyway this morning the water is yellow!!What did I do wrong?(Ive taken it out now!!)

i soked mines 4 a week before putting it in??? y dont u soak it maybe that will work...

 

[clutterydrawer]

I put a piece of bogwood into my new tank(no fish yet luckily!!)Anyway this morning the water is yellow!!What did I do wrong?(Ive taken it out now!!)

Bogwood leaks something called tannin into the water. This won't actually hurt your fish; it lowers the pH a little but they won't mind.

If you find the yellow water unattractive, you can boil the wood before you put it in the tank. Keep boiling it it fresh pans of water till the water stops turnign brown. :

 

[Babyeggsmum]

Thanks for that!!I was a bit upset as it is quite nice and cost a small fortune!Will boiling it stop it floating too?

 

[plecoperson]

its a natural down side to bogwood. The stuff is tannin, (i think thats what its called!) which makes the water yellow. It doesnt harm your fish but it doesnt look very nice. soak it for 24 hours before you put it in the tank, that took care of the tannin in my bogwood

 

[clutterydrawer]

Thanks for that!!I was a bit upset as it is quite nice and cost a small fortune!Will boiling it stop it floating too?

Yeah, once it's soaked for long enough it's stay submerged. probably the boiling will help with that. Do you know what fishes you plan to get? cos some of them rather like the tannin.

 

[StrontiumDog]

Boiling it expands the air within the wood so it comes out making space for water to replace the void. So in the end it sinks.

HTH

 

[NinjaSmurf]

On a sort of side note, never wedge the wood in the tank to keep it from floating or because it looks neat, when it expands it'll break your tank. I've had this happen to a friend.