Tannins

[BOD]

Just to give some indication of size, that tank is 48'' long and 24'' high so i guess you can see why i cant do what most people have said....

Wood

 

[Teelie]

I have a large piece similar to that in a 30g and it's stopped releasing them now or they are to a point it's not noticiable between water changes. It just takes time and unfortunately with large pieces like that, unless you submerge it in another tank or large tub, it's something to live with. Using charcoal will reduce the amount of tannins but it also removes other essential minerals and cause other problems.

 

[lljdma06]

I also had a large piece like that in my old 45g hex and it really does take time. I actually like the color the wood produces and think your tank looks very nice. My tank, with the tannins, really showed off the colors of my cardinal tetras. It just takes patience BOD.

My new tanks also have driftwood, but I soaked mine for over a week in warm/hot water (changing that water daily) and then added it to the tank. They are only a bit yellow, but it compliments the colors of my fish. If the color is really bothering, you could add a few plants to off set the yellow a bit. They wouldn't remove the tannins, but the green will provide a contrast, and plants are so lovely anyway. Sorry I couldn't help more. Learn to love tannins, they're great!

 

[Bignose]

If the color is really bothering, you could add a few plants to off set the yellow a bit. They wouldn't remove the tannins, but the green will provide a contrast, and plants are so lovely anyway.

Here's the funny thing, tannins actually can help the growth of plants. Tannins are actually a combination of several different chemicals, one of which is humic acid. Humic acids are notable since most of them have carboxylic acid groups on them that chelate positively charged ions, like Mg++, Ca++, Fe++. In english terms, this means that humic acid takes these ions out of the water soluiton. And, when these trace elements are out of solution, they are far easier for a growing plant to take them up. I've always thought it was a pretty neat cycle, that the tannins are produced from decaying plants and those same tannins end up acting to help live growing plants get their necessary trace elements.

 

[Trance2006]

Psssst, BOD, while they are all debating - tannins.....

found another post earlier (can't find where now!) where one suggestion for removing tannins was to place said piece of wood in the toilet cistern (assuming there are no chemicals present).
Wood gets a regular rinse and all leechings are flushed away.......
Don't know if this is an option for you.

Now, back to the arguement......er, discusion!

That's a novel idea though I'd be concerned about the damage chlorine/chloramine and other tap water contaminates would have on the wood in such a place.

And the itt bits of feces

 

[ncjharris]

And the itt bits of feces

In the cistern? Where do you go to the toilet?!

 

[dwarfgourami]

I boiled a big piece simply by boiling first one end and then the other. There may have been some bits in the middle that got missed out, but no big deal.

 

[BOD]

lol...thanks people lots of suggestions...im not likeing the idea of taking it out incase i squash any of the fish trying to put it back in! plus i would feel mean because my polka dot botias absolutley love it and would be lost without it, im getting more plants for the tank anyways, going quite heavily planted, so i guess im going to have to wait and see really, i must have had it in there though at least 4 months, it does look brighter though somewhat in the last month, so anyways i bought some more carbon for my filter today so hopefully that combined with a few larger water changes should do the trick.!

 

[Bloo]

What a hullabaloo such an innocent thread provoked Yeah, removing your loaches' home will be far too disrupting, but sounds like you'll get sorted with the wood pretty soon anyway seeing that it's been in there for 4 months already

 

[BOD]

on a sadder note my favorite little dwarf gourami passed away yesterday

 

[lljdma06]

on a sadder note my favorite little dwarf gourami passed away yesterday

That's sad, sorry about the dwarf. They are so cute, but I have always found them delicate. I followed all the rules for their introduction, and I've never had one survive long. But they tend to be not the greatest fish in the LFS. I prefer Honey gouramis, especially the natural-colored ones, a far more robust fish with just as much charm. But that's just my opinion.

Glad you're going heavily planted. That should be a gorgeous tank with the wood as the focal point. It can provide beautiful shading for anubias and you could grow some serious java fern with that wood! It's a dark piece, so if your lighting is good enough, plants in shades of light green would be stunning. I'm rambling now, sorry.

 

[BOD]

no thanks for the advice..lights plants...and growing stuff on the wood i like that idea!!!