Bogwood 101

[FishBlast]

So, I got this for free,

but I don't know exactly how to prepare it.
It has been soaked, weighted etc by former owner, but it was with a bunch of fish in an unfiltered tank, so... yeah, probably has some stuff in it I don't want.
How to make it safe for my tank? Do I boil it? Put it in a tub of hot water?
Will it raise or lower my PH?

 

[fluttermoth]

Pour some boiling water over it, in a bucket and leave it to soak for a day. It might lower your pH very slightly, but not enough to me concerned about

 

[FishBlast]

Pour some boiling water over it, in a bucket and leave it to soak for a day. It might lower your pH very slightly, but not enough to me concerned about

Thank you.
It was soaked by the former owner and was used in his tank, but I need to boil it to get rid of any viruses/bacteria. A bucket's not big enough for that thing I have this 100L pot... and it's STILL bigger than it! Will have to spin it around in the pot.
I am boiling water in a smaller pot to pour over it.

Side note, I just found out that the monster I carried home along with the wood is a 150L tank. My arms are going to hurt in the morning, but it was worth it lol. Too bad I cannot use it yet, my mom isn't too happy about it... (saying that fishkeeping is for kids) -.- So, it will be attic fish tank some day or... probably some day I'll have my own house, but that may take years, seeing as the colleges I wanted to go to just simply dismissed the specialty I wanted. Romania hates movie scripting. No wonder our recent movies suck.

 

[fluttermoth]

You don't need to boil the wood, Fishblast. That'll just cook it and make it rot faster.

Pouring boiling water over it a few times is enough, although you can also let it dry out completely as well.

 

[FishBlast]

You don't need to boil the wood, Fishblast. That'll just cook it and make it rot faster.

Pouring boiling water over it a few times is enough, although you can also let it dry out completely as well.

Yeah, that's what I'm doing, boiling in small pot and pouring in the big pot over it. Then I'll let it dry, and maybe tonight I'll put it in. But not knowing how high/low my PH is currently is going to be risky. -.-
But since my snails managed to cover the holes they came with from the pet store, I guess it should be above 7 anyway.

How many years does it take for bogwood to rot though?

 

[fluttermoth]

If you actually boil it, a few months. If your just pouring boiling water over it, it'll last for years.

I think you're worrying too much about the affect on your pH, it will be very, very small. It won't affect it enough to harm your fish in any way.

 

[FishBlast]

If you actually boil it, a few months. If your just pouring boiling water over it, it'll last for years.

I think you're worrying too much about the affect on your pH, it will be very, very small. It won't affect it enough to harm your fish in any way.

I poured water over it. Leaving it to soak in some 80C water now and then I'll let it try and tonight I'll put it in. Thank you for the help. X)
Might be perfect for some Java Moss.

 

[elmo666]

As previously mentioned the effect on your ph will be very small. It will, however, tint your water as some off the tanins are released, giving it the colour of weak tea.

 

[FishBlast]

As previously mentioned the effect on your ph will be very small. It will, however, tint your water as some off the tanins are released, giving it the colour of weak tea.

I've noticed that a lot of people have the water clear even though they have bogwood. How do they keep it that way?

Added the wood to the tank. I moved my oldest plant in front, although most of it still carries the scars from the days when I had no lighting... At least it started growing new shoots from its old leaves.

As usual, my catfish is scared of new stuff, but the swordies love it, they're already grazing on it. My snails have reacted quite odd though, it appears like all my ramshorns and the apple snails just run away from it. Odd...

Will post a better pic when the night comes, as it looks better when the room is dark.

A better pic. Though my Nokia takes the pics waay too bright, at least it captures true color. I always have to make the images darker on the pc. -.- Looks better on the phone though.
You can see the snails chewing on a plant in front lol...

 

[OldMan47]

The way you keep water clear while having lots of wood is to use plenty of charcoal in the filter. The charcoal they sell at a LFS has very few benefits in a cycled tank but removing tannins is one of them.

 

[FishBlast]

The way you keep water clear while having lots of wood is to use plenty of charcoal in the filter. The charcoal they sell at a LFS has very few benefits in a cycled tank but removing tannins is one of them.

Yeah, aside from removing medicine, that would probably be the only benefit in a healthy tank.
But just how bad can tannins affect water looks? I wouldn't mind if it would be a bit brown or green but still somewhat transparent. If it turns into foggy green like... let's say... this...

then that might be a problem.

 

[fluttermoth]

It won't do that

At most it'll just give the water a brownish tint; like weak tea without milk

 

[FishBlast]

It won't do that

At most it'll just give the water a brownish tint; like weak tea without milk

Brown tint would look nice, as long as transparency isn't affected or it only has a mild fog.
I'm glad to see Tzuppy finally got used to the new decoration. The snails love it. X)
Also, Bee likes passing through that arch near the middle of the tank, repeatedly. No idea why.
I'll put java moss in the wood's holes some day. Bet they'll grow all over it in no time. Currently got some water sprite in there, but it looks like it could slip away at the slightest current lol.

 

[Ruskull]

Pour some boiling water over it, in a bucket and leave it to soak for a day. It might lower your pH very slightly, but not enough to me concerned about

This is the correct answer!

 

[Ruskull]

The brown tint from the tannins is mostly noticable when the tank light is off, when you look at the tank water against trhe backdrop of a white wall. So in other words it shoulkdn't be a problem since this piece hgas already been soaked & in some other tank anyway. Some folks even prefer the look of brown tinted water because it makes the colors appear different. Regular weekly water changes are enough to keep my tanks looking slightly stained in a good way.