Driftwood

[blue acara]

hey all
im starting a new tank for south/central american fish so ive got myself a nice bit of 'decorative driftwood'. the guy at the store says it needs 3 days soaking to get rid of the stain, but 5 days on its still leaking major amounts of piss coloured water
Luckily said water is in a bucket not in my tank
Does it ever go away/when will it go away. Any tips to speed up the process?

 

[dthoffsett]

The yellow colored water is from the release of tannins in the wood. It took me 2 weeks before the water in the bucket was mostly clear. I dumped the old water and put in hot water every other day, I think the hot water helps flush it out faster.

 

[kramers]

try boiling it for about 20 minutes. after that mine didn't release hardly any

 

[Griz]

Boiling may help but it's unlikely that it will stop it altogether. Keeping up on frequent water changes will help make the tint less noticeable. Many south & central American fish live in stained water and prefer it. Personally I like the look, especially with live plants.

 

[blue acara]

cheers for the replys

I thought bout adding hot or boiling water but woz worried that it may rot or damage the wood. ill give the boiling/hot water method a go. I wouldnt mind a slight 'tint' to the water but not the amount that is coming out at the mo

thx

 

[heather]

ive got the same problem with my wood its been in soak for 8 days still looks like pee water ,, i was told 3 days /// hahah

 

[chishnfips]

The tannin colouration isn;'t a bad thing though, it has anti bacterial properties, and can sometimes add a more natural look to your tank.

 

[Darkerwhite2]

Since the topic is already up would you guys recomend using driftwood from a lake if the proper cleaning atreating was done? If so what sort of cleaning should i be doing and what precautions should i take. I found some really nice pieces but am worried about outside bacteria and organisms that cold harm my wet friends.

Thanks in Advance

 

[PlecMama]

I took some tree branches out of the river near us and washed them down in good boiling water (in the bath) and left them for an afternoon and stuck them in the big tank. The only problem I had was that they wouldn't stay sunk, so I drilled holes in some roof tiles and screwed them on to those. Now they stay sunk

 

[kramers]

Most of the wood in mine is cypress right out of one the local lakes. All of my pieces get boiled in a large outdoor cooker.

 

[Darkerwhite2]

alright awesome any suggestions on getting the algae off some peices are kind of green and id kinda like brown wood not so much green i've tried scraping with wire brrush but it doesn't go so well. you think a pressure washer would dp the trick after some boiling?

Thanks for the replies guys im always pleased with the answers to my stupid questions on here

 

[chishnfips]

yeah I put a bit of alder i n,y tank that I found outside.

boiling and scrubbing is the way to go. should come off eventually.