Bogwood Question

[Sime]

Hi, i'd like to have a bit of wood in my tank, some with java fern on it and some just placed here and there to give some depth and something apart from plants.

Do you have to do anything with it before you put it in the water? If jimbooo see's this i was wondering if all your wood is bogwood or driftwood? i'm a bit unclear on the various types.

Some people i've seen say boil it, but if its got plants on it i don't know what to do?

thanks a lot,
Simon.

 

[red-devil0602]

the ones you buy with the plants growing on will already have been soaked while the plant were attaching otherwise they wouldn't have survived. If you buy a new piece from lfs i would boil it for 20 mins then soak it over night.

 

[Sime]

right thanks, so i put it in a saucepan and completely submerge it, then boil it that way?

bogwood doesn't turn your water all brown does it?

 

[red-devil0602]

yes thats how you boil it, then weight it down in a bucket of water overnight to saturate it, yes it can turn your water brown, this is why we boil it to stop it happening

 

[Sime]

right i see. do if i get driftwood i treat this in the same manner?

does boiling completely stop the water going brown?

 

[debiasir]

boiling will stop the water going brown to an extent. I boiled a new piece of bogwwood for 3 days and stuck it in the tank and it still leaked tannins but a few water change and it was back to normal.

 

[jimbooo]

hi sime, i have mopani wood (the little bits) and 2 lumps of bogwood (the 2 n shaped bits on the base of the 40G)

mopani is the best kind, only leaches tannin for 48 hours (soak in the bath), bogwood is a more interesting texture/shape but will leach for a week or so.

just make sure it's heavy, all my bogwood weighs a ton (remember it's gotta sink)

all mine sank instantly when put in the tank.

 

[zig]

Yeah make sure its heavy when you buy it so it will sink, i think if you get bogwood scrub it really well and then boil it for 20 mins or so this will help with the tannins, but after a few water changes you really wont notice the tannins at all in my experience, it clears up pretty quick.

But make sure its heavy, been there with floating wood.