How To Take Bogwood Tannins Out Of The Water

[Jay-93]

Did you see the link i posted

It will clear up the tannins

Yes I did thanks although, £27 is quite a lot for something that isn't that necessary for my tank, I'll think about it though

 

[James9114]

carbon does nothing.

really? it seems to work for everyone else who uses it for just this task. perhaps you are using it the wrong way?

I really wouldn't recommend you boil bogwood; it can make it fall apart or rot. Pour hot water over it and leave it to soak. Change the water every day and the tannins should soon go, though it does depend on the wood; some pieces leach a lot more than others.

well said there.
all boiling does, is increase the speed that the wood will degrades.
unless you boil it till the wood falls apart. all boiling will do is remove tannins from the damage wood. and give access to Undamaged wood. which will start giving up its tannins.

water change and, if you like adding a carbon filter (I, personally, wouldn't add it to your current filter) coupled with time, is the best way to cope with tannins.
its also worth considering that tannins are, usually, said good for fish. well, there is defiantly nothing bad in there anyway.
I find its gone, to the human eye, after 3-6 months anyway. via water changes.
even without a carbon filter. which is the best way to get rid of tannins. quickly

so the problem is down to aesthetics. if you dont like brown water, and you dont have fish that eat/rasp it. get plastic wood. problem solved!

How can you use carbon wrong, had tank running for over a year had carbon in it constantly and water is still yellow, change carbon every 4 months ish

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The tannins are a bit of a tonic to many fish. Some fish really do prefer to be in a tank with tannins in it. Personally, all the tannins have leached out of my tank and I kind of miss the yellowish tint of my tank. It still looks nice, but its too clear for my taste. Go figure.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

How can you use carbon wrong, had tank running for over a year had carbon in it constantly and water is still yellow, change carbon every 4 months ish

"Activated carbon" that you are using doesn't stay viable for that long. So, what is happening is that the carbon is aDsorbing (not aBsorbing) the tannins and reaching its capacity, while the wood continues to leach more into the water for months. Then you change the carbon, it quickly removes as much as it can, but not enough to be visible to you. You then determine that the carbon is doing "nothing", when in reality it is doing "less than you expected for a shorter period of time than you expected".

 

[raptorrex]

carbon does nothing.

really? it seems to work for everyone else who uses it for just this task. perhaps you are using it the wrong way?

I really wouldn't recommend you boil bogwood; it can make it fall apart or rot. Pour hot water over it and leave it to soak. Change the water every day and the tannins should soon go, though it does depend on the wood; some pieces leach a lot more than others.

well said there.
all boiling does, is increase the speed that the wood will degrades.
unless you boil it till the wood falls apart. all boiling will do is remove tannins from the damage wood. and give access to Undamaged wood. which will start giving up its tannins.

water change and, if you like adding a carbon filter (I, personally, wouldn't add it to your current filter) coupled with time, is the best way to cope with tannins.
its also worth considering that tannins are, usually, said good for fish. well, there is defiantly nothing bad in there anyway.
I find its gone, to the human eye, after 3-6 months anyway. via water changes.
even without a carbon filter. which is the best way to get rid of tannins. quickly

so the problem is down to aesthetics. if you dont like brown water, and you dont have fish that eat/rasp it. get plastic wood. problem solved!

How can you use carbon wrong, had tank running for over a year had carbon in it constantly and water is still yellow, change carbon every 4 months ish

lol, in this case. i was making a, slight joke.
carbon works for tannin removal. if it didn't for you.the question has to be.
what are you doing wrong?

it seems to me, . you left it in for too long between change outs.
24-48 hours is the maximum time i would leave carbon in.

from my experience, using it as you do, would actually help keep the tannins in the tank. not remove them.
hence, you still had, yellow water after so long. which in itself, is unusual.

and, some might say (perhaps more importantly), putting your fish at risk.
the risk being. carbon is capable of leaching back chemicals it has aDsorbed. this is a, potential, problem.

 

[2101]

Just to show the length of time wood can take to stop tanning the water. I brought a really nice centre piece of my tank that was Cornish Oak. Still soaking 61days later........Too big to boil and that could possibly damage the wood.

 

[helterskelter]

Water changes and carbon will be the only way of you cant allow it to soak.

I have in the past had a talk that even with carbon had coloured water for 2 years before it cleared.

It will though in time.

 

[raptorrex]

I have in the past had a talk that even with carbon had coloured water for 2 years before it cleared.

It will though in time.

jesh man. how big was the wood? or, perhaps, more importantly. what type of wood was it?

 

[helterskelter]

about 10kg of wood in a 250 gallon system. Carbon changed monthly and 30% water changes every 2 weeks!