using driftwood

how long should I be soaking drift wood before putting it in my tank?
I've got a piece soaking for a week and a half. The water is still
brownish. Should i keep going until the water doesn't change colour? Or
can I put it in my tank already? Thanks in advance.

Mariachi wrote:
how long should I be soaking drift wood before putting it in my tank?
I've got a piece soaking for a week and a half. The water is still
brownish. Should i keep going until the water doesn't change colour? Or
can I put it in my tank already? Thanks in advance.


Depends on where you got the driftwood...if you got it from an LFS then
it is probably safe to put it in if you don't mind tea coloured water
(makes it difficult tracing small amounts of ammonia IME). I have
tea-coloured water even 18 months after having driftwood in the tank -
maybe carbon in the filter might help but I've not tried this - I just
put up with the coloured water...

Gill Passman wrote:
Mariachi wrote:
how long should I be soaking drift wood before putting it in my tank?
I've got a piece soaking for a week and a half. The water is still
brownish. Should i keep going until the water doesn't change colour? Or
can I put it in my tank already? Thanks in advance.


Depends on where you got the driftwood...if you got it from an LFS then
it is probably safe to put it in if you don't mind tea coloured water
(makes it difficult tracing small amounts of ammonia IME). I have
tea-coloured water even 18 months after having driftwood in the tank -
maybe carbon in the filter might help but I've not tried this - I just
put up with the coloured water...

Carbon will remove the tea color. As long as the wood sinks or you can
weigh it down to your satisfaction, it's probably fine.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to reply.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

"Mariachi" wrote in news:1141945494.087554.224130
@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com:

how long should I be soaking drift wood before putting it in my tank?
I've got a piece soaking for a week and a half. The water is still
brownish. Should i keep going until the water doesn't change colour? Or
can I put it in my tank already? Thanks in advance.

You can put it in right away. The longer you soak it, the less tannin will
be released into your aquarium water. It's harmless (except the humic
acids can lower your pH slightly), but it will turn your tank into a black
water tank.

I love black water personally. Ever since I turned my display tank at work
into one I've sold a lot more Kent Black Water Expert.

I have tea-coloured water even 18 months after having driftwood in the tank -
maybe carbon in the filter might help but I've not tried this.

Same here. About a year or more with tea-colored water. I have a carbon
in the filter too.

It becomes less and less obvious though as the months pass.

"IDzine01" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have tea-coloured water even 18 months after having driftwood in the
tank -
maybe carbon in the filter might help but I've not tried this.

Same here. About a year or more with tea-colored water. I have a carbon
in the filter too.

It becomes less and less obvious though as the months pass.

The tea color in my 30G long finally disappeared after
a year or so. I miss it. Maybe it's time to put in a
new piece of driftwood.

Gail

"Gail Futoran" wrote in news:1ziQf.7369
:

The tea color in my 30G long finally disappeared after
a year or so. I miss it. Maybe it's time to put in a
new piece of driftwood.

There are black water additives you can buy at your LFS too.

"dc" wrote...
"Gail Futoran" wrote in news:1ziQf.7369
:

The tea color in my 30G long finally disappeared after
a year or so. I miss it. Maybe it's time to put in a
new piece of driftwood.

There are black water additives you can buy at your LFS too.


thanks for this thread guys, this is one of the things i've been working on
with my 75 gal. (which, btw, is just about ready for stocking). :-)

On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 11:14:23 -0700, "Tedd Jacobs"
wrote:


"dc" wrote...
"Gail Futoran" wrote in news:1ziQf.7369
:

The tea color in my 30G long finally disappeared after
a year or so. I miss it. Maybe it's time to put in a
new piece of driftwood.

There are black water additives you can buy at your LFS too.


thanks for this thread guys, this is one of the things i've been working on
with my 75 gal. (which, btw, is just about ready for stocking). :-)

If you go with one of the commercial black water additives, let us
know what you try and how it works for you. Some of these products
make some pretty big claims. Some are quite simple. Some are a regular
witch's brew of ingredients. There are claims of improving plant
health as well as Mark Weiss's concoction which claims to prevent the
ich parasite from sticking to the fish's skin.
-- Mister Gardener

Gail Futoran wrote:
"IDzine01" wrote in message
oups.com...

I have tea-coloured water even 18 months after having driftwood in the
tank -
maybe carbon in the filter might help but I've not tried this.

Same here. About a year or more with tea-colored water. I have a carbon
in the filter too.

It becomes less and less obvious though as the months pass.


The tea color in my 30G long finally disappeared after
a year or so. I miss it. Maybe it's time to put in a
new piece of driftwood.

Gail


the only issue I have with it is that it turns the water the same colour
as a positive ammonia reading with my nutrafin test kit - nowadays I add
in the reagent and then compare it to the tank water before looking at
the chart - it isn't exact science I know...I rely more on the
nitrite/nitrate test kits - there is no mistaking pink for yellow....

Apart from that...if the water colour doesn't bother my fish it doesn't
bother me...