Mega Tannins?!?!

[justjon]

Well, I got two small pieces of bogwood for my 35L in preperation for my shrimp arriving tomorrow (in the post )...

I've been boiling them since 5pm, it's now 8pm and the water is still boiling brown.. must have done about 8 empties by now.

Is this normal?

 

[Wills]

yep my wood took 2 weeks I would just leave them in to soak for a longer period between changing the water - then you still have the problem of it not sinking to deal with if its a problem haha!

 

[justjon]

Oh dear... so should I just add them to my small tank?

I do 20% water changes each week.... and was wanting to cover them in moss that i've ordered in a few days.

 

[Wills]

Keep them soaking for a few more days/weeks till the tannins are nearly all gone and then add them in. If they float just put rocks on them or screw them to a piece of slate that you can bury in the sand or something.

Wills

 

[CrystalClear16]

Or just risk the tannins. It won't hurt the fish and the only risk is that your water goes a bit brown for a few weeks.

I got bored of boiling/soaking mine after a week and just put it in the tank. Thanks to the carbon in my external filter my water stayed beautifully clear.

 

[justjon]

I will leave soak for a few days as the plan is to wrap moss around them anyway.. I only have a fluval 1+ which has one sponge.