Questions About Bog Wood

[PrairieSunflower]

I have ordered a lovely piece of bog wood for my tank but have a few questions.


What are the reasons we soak it beforehand?
Can it just be soaked in water in a bucket?
Does the water need to be a certain temperature?
Do I need to dechlorinate this water first?
Please say I don't need to boil the wood as it will definitely not fit in my pots!

 

[Crossfire]

I have ordered a lovely piece of bog wood for my tank but have a few questions.


What are the reasons we soak it beforehand?
Can it just be soaked in water in a bucket?
Does the water need to be a certain temperature?
Do I need to dechlorinate this water first?
Please say I don't need to boil the wood as it will definitely not fit in my pots!

1) Some people soak to leech out the tannins so they don't get brown water. If you want brown water, then don't soak the wood. Other times, people soak the wood to water log it so it doesn't float, and sometimes they soak it to make sure no toxins get in the tank.

2) Yes

3) Room temperature is fine

3) Yes, because it might leech chlorinated water into the tank

4) Of its store bought, no need to boil it as it is already safe

 

[snazy]

I have ordered a lovely piece of bog wood for my tank but have a few questions.


What are the reasons we soak it beforehand?
Can it just be soaked in water in a bucket?
Does the water need to be a certain temperature?
Do I need to dechlorinate this water first?
Please say I don't need to boil the wood as it will definitely not fit in my pots!

1) Some people soak to leech out the tannins so they don't get brown water. If you want brown water, then don't soak the wood. Other times, people soak the wood to water log it so it doesn't float, and sometimes they soak it to make sure no toxins get in the tank.

2) Yes

3) Room temperature is fine

3) Yes, because it might leech chlorinated water into the tank

4) Of its store bought, no need to boil it as it is already safe

If you are going to soak the wood for a while, use normal tap water, boiled in a kettle and pour it over to kill any bacteria that maybe on the wood. Only the last time you change the water in which it's soaked use dechlorinated water and then it's ready to go into the tank. I haven't used dechlorinated water myself to be honest and had no problems.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Thanks!

I don't really care for brown water so I will definitely soak it. Will have to sterilize my bucket too first.

 

[Aquascaper]

What are the reasons we soak it beforehand?
Can it just be soaked in water in a bucket?
Does the water need to be a certain temperature?
Do I need to dechlorinate this water first?

Wood is soaked to remove tannins and to waterlog it, you don't have to do this but if you don't you will need to weigh it down in the tank until it's waterlogged and put activated carbon in your filter to remove the tannins (although this isn't 100% effective, you'll have to do extra water changes as well)

Any suitable sized container filled with tap water will do for soaking it.

The amount of water held in the wood once placed in the tank will have no effect on the overall temperature of the tank water so no need to warm it/keep it warm while soaking.

Again, the amount of water held in the wood will have no effect on the tank water however, adding a small dose of dechlorinator to the tank when placing the wood in won't do any harm. DO NOT dechlorinate the water while you're soaking the wood, chlorine is put in tap water to kill off nasties....let it do its job on the wood.

HTH