Huge Piece Of Bogwood

[Leonwillow]

I've just got a new piece of bogwood and the only place I can think of to soak it is the bath.

I am worried about any chemicals which have been in the bath.

Do you think it is safe?

 

[demonmagus]

how big is it exactly? You could buy one of those huge storage tubs instead

 

[DarkEntity]

Use a water barrel if you are concerned. Garden centres sell them

 

[Leonwillow]

how big is it exactly?

It's about 2 and a half feet long.

I think I will have to buy something. Will see if I can get a plastic box big enough or will go down the water barrel route.

Any other ideas of somethong cheap I could use?

thanks

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If you have a pond or know someone who has a pond, you can soak it in that- thats what i did when i bought my 3-4ft long peices of bogwood for my tanks .
The stuff that the wood leaks out is tannins, perfectly harmless and can even be beneficial to many catfish like pleco's (tannins apparently have certain antiseptic qualities to them), but when the wood is new it leaks out so much of the stuff it makes the water look very brown like tea which some fishkeepers don't like. Your wood could leak out tannins for many months, but it varies a great deal so its hard to predict how long exactly it'll do it for- i have had my huge peices of wood for 5months now and they are still leaking out tannins (but not as much as they used to) and show no sign of stopping so far.

 

[ghent_3rd]

See if your LFS will dump in one of their coldwater vats. That's what they do at my LFS, they sell their bogwood pre-soaked after doing this, saves a lot of hassle for us customers!

 

[demonmagus]

does carbon help remove tannins?

 

[Teelie]

Yes but I find it is a slow process and regular water changes do a much better job of clearing up tannins if they become a problem.