How To Cure Bogwood

[Yeoman]

Is there a quick/easy way to stop the wood dying water brown please?

 

[moochy13]

i guess the longer its in hot water the better, but this could get very expensive and is impractical. the easiest place to keep wood in constant 'hot' water is......your fish tank. i think its just something you'll have to live with until it stops. bad news is mine is still leaching nearly 4 months down the line. however i dont mind the look, and if anything tannin is slightly beneficial to the fish. your normal water change routine should stop it turning too dark, but i'd say the only option is increasing water changes if the tannin colour offends you that much. i cant think of anything you could use to seal the wood that wouldnt be harmful. bear in mind some fish eat the actual wood, and lots pick bits off the wood.

 

[ian]

Quick and easy answer, seachem purigen in you filter.

 

[CrystalClear16]

I poured boiling water over mine a few times, left it to soak for a week and put it in my tank. The carbon in my filter kept the water clear.

 

[moochy13]

the carbon in my filter didnt

 

[Monty-2010]

leave soaking, in boiling water, keep the water hot, score the wood to let water into it

 

[dayzofspeed]

buy a fake one

 

[L4byr1nth]

A high carbon load in your filter should keep the water clear of tannins, as seen in my own new tank thread

Ben.

 

[backtotropical]

Another thing you can try if you have a dishwasher is to run the wood through a couple of wash cycles (without detergent obviously). Worked quite well for me.

However, I've never heard of a method which removes all traces of tanins in the wood. As Ianho says, Seachem Purigen or activated carbon in your filter should deal with any discolouration.

Regards

BTT

 

[BigC]

However, I've never heard of a method which removes all traces of tanins in the wood.

Oh there is a way Diatomic Filtration, now virtually extinct in Europe you can still get these filters in the States.
They are designed to run periodically not 24/7. I'm still on the look out for one as the diatomaceous earth they use as a media can even trap ich. They used to be sold under the HOBBY brand in Europe and (Vortex in the USA) but they seem to be hard to come by these days. If you do come across a European outlet I would be grateful if you would let me know

Quote from Wikipedia
Filtration
The most common use (68%)[citation needed] of diatomaceous earth is as a filter medium, especially for swimming pools. It has a high porosity, because it is composed of microscopically-small, coffin-like, hollow particles. Diatomaceous earth (sometimes referred to as Celite, a genericized trademark) is used in chemistry as a filtration aid, to filter very fine particles that would otherwise pass through or clog filter paper. It is also used to filter water, particularly in the drinking water treatment process and in fish tanks, and other liquids, such as beer and wine. It can also filter syrups and sugar. Other industries such as paper, paints, ceramics, soap and detergents use it as a fulling material.

Regards
C

 

[backtotropical]

Very interesting, C. Never heard of that before. Any idea why it has been all but phased out? It sounds great!

 

[BigC]

Andy I used to buy fish from an old man in my home town about 30 odd years ago, he sold tropical fish from 2 garages around the back of his house, he had an amazing array of species back then that would put a modern LFS to shame.
I used to go up before opening time and he would let me watch him perform a little maintenance around his tanks. One day I observed him moving this filter canister around from tank to tank (similar in fashion to the big Eheim's we see today). So being a nosey wee sprat I enquired why and what for, so he proceeded to tell me. Andy, no word of a lie, those tanks were GIN CLEAR. I imagine that the flow rate through the canister would have to be slower so as not to clog the earth. He spent around 15 mins on each aquarium before opening time. That's one childhood memory which has always stuck in my memory and I vowed one day I'd get me one of those filters. As a water polisher they are amazing.

Any idea why it has been all but phased out?

No idea mate, but you can still get the diatomaceous earth pretty readily from German stores.
Regards
C

 

[Yeoman]

My thanks to everyone for their comments - the wood is to be added to a 30 litre nano cube so filtration is limited.

 

[ArnieStinger]

Andy I used to buy fish from an old man in my home town about 30 odd years ago, he sold tropical fish from 2 garages around the back of his house, he had an amazing array of species back then that would put a modern LFS to shame.
I used to go up before opening time and he would let me watch him perform a little maintenance around his tanks. One day I observed him moving this filter canister around from tank to tank (similar in fashion to the big Eheim's we see today). So being a nosey wee sprat I enquired why and what for, so he proceeded to tell me. Andy, no word of a lie, those tanks were GIN CLEAR. I imagine that the flow rate through the canister would have to be slower so as not to clog the earth. He spent around 15 mins on each aquarium before opening time. That's one childhood memory which has always stuck in my memory and I vowed one day I'd get me one of those filters. As a water polisher they are amazing.

Any idea why it has been all but phased out?

No idea mate, but you can still get the diatomaceous earth pretty readily from German stores.
Regards
C

You can get that earth in the UK, but you might need to modify a filter so that it would work.

DM is good for killing very small bugs, its sharpness kills even fly larvea

 

[Uriel]

My thanks to everyone for their comments - the wood is to be added to a 30 litre nano cube so filtration is limited.

I assume it's quite a small piece of bog wood then. You can put it in a pan and boil it. If you have a pan big enough. This will leech out a lot of the tannins. If you do it long enough people have reported getting no tannin at all. Be warned it will not smell nice while boiling.