mopani wood 6" x 4"

[mark456]

hi, i have a small peice of mopani wood and i have been boiling it for 2 weeks changing the water about 10 times a day and still after about 25mins the water is a really dark brown, what shall i do?, i dont want my tank water colour to change if i put the wood in, thanks for your help

 

[yvez9]

there's nothing much more you can do unfortunetaly

 

[paulthegreat]

Try puting it in a bucket of water about the same temp as your tank and see what happens to the color of the water. Give it a bit of a scrub and rinse in cold water before puting it in the bucket or better yet if you have a bath tub fill it with the same amount of water in the tank and let it sit for a day or so ans see what happens.

 

[mark456]

ok then cheers guys, but if i keot boiling it how long do you think it will take the tannis to come out

 

[yvez9]

it's hard to say how long tannins can leach for

sometimes they leach for a week, sometimes they leach for years...

 

[mark456]

looks like i might get rid then, im not waitin years lol im to impatient

 

[Bloo]

Almost each piece of wood reacts / behaves differently.
You really really should not boil wood that long (boiling it for 2 WEEKS ) .
Only 20 minutes max ! Your wood is probably disintegrating by now and that could be why your water just keeps staining.

Try a different piece or buy non-mopani wood / bogwood and that should discolour less.

 

[rixy]

get a different piece of wood.wash in hot water a few times and then just put it in your tank.give it 3 or 4 days and a water change and it should be fine.

 

[pseud]

Yeah, and change the water while you're boiling it, else there's no fresh water for tannins to seep into.

 

[paulthegreat]

I have opawa root in both of my tanks and I soaked it in hot tap water for a week changing the water every day and scrubbed it with a tooth brush a few times. If there is any bark on it it will probably leach out for a lot longer so try to scrape that off and try the tank temp test I mentioned earlier.

 

[mark456]

hi again everybody, just wondering weather or not i should put the mopani wood into my tank, i have had it in a bucket of water for about 5days in room temperature water, the water has stayed nearly crystal, shall i put it in my tank?

 

[kat and james]

we have a big piece of bogwood in our tank, it is still leaching a little, but it is a huge piece. it does get less over time, and the fish actually like the tanned water anyway, it doesn't harm them, its really more for your own aesthetics.
if you do buy more bogwood, make sure you buy lighter coloured wood, as we had a really dark bit to start off with, and it used to make the water look REALLY brown!
good luck!

 

[Mo_loves_fish]

if u have a petco near by i think they sell already"cleaned" wood

 

[jimbooo]

i must have 10 to 12 pieces of bogwood in my 3 tanks from 6 inches to 2 foot in length. all pieces were jet washed for 30 mins to get all the bits out of the cracks then soaked in cold tapwater for 2 weeks changing water every 3 days. i've never boiled it or even used hot water.

none of my tanks had tannin in for more than 48 hours (and i dont use carbon filters either)

as bloozoo2 said you must have boiled it to death so the wood structure is falling apart. i'd suggest a cold soak for a week and see what happens, if not get more wood.

 

[boozybears]

I boiled mine for 20 minutes then soaked it for 5 days, changing the water regularly. I noticed the tannins for a few months in the tank... but to be honest I liked the colour and was a bit sad when it disappeared.