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I would suggest to wait for at least 3 days for the tannin colour to come off further before you leave it in your tank. You may also want to make sure it is already sinking well. Be patient
I've just bought 2 sets of driftwood for my 3ft tank.
One of them look like sharkfin so that's quite unique.
I'm preparing them right now and what I gather from the forum is that I have to soak it, pour hot water to it.
I intend to soak it with right now with relatively hot water, soak it overnight. The next day I'll put it into my tank.
Will that be OK? Or I have to wait for ONE WEEK?
I would suggest to wait for at least 3 days for the tannin colour to come off further before you leave it in your tank. You may also want to make sure it is already sinking well. Be patient
Hot water is a good measure to kill-off unwanted parasites and bacteria.
I would reccomend that you soak it for some time unless it sinks immediately.
"New" DW will certainly leach tannins and it will take quite a few water change and time for it to leach out.
After that point it will be quite stable with the usual water change regime.
Some aquarists who like the black water effect love the leached tannins.
Others hate it and do more and consistent water change to minimize the effect of new DW.
celticfish
It is a good day to die!!!
I finally uploaded an avatar and Cupid is dead!!!
It's sinking now... Maybe I'll wait for one more day...
I will usually add in oxy cure to eliminate parasites too.
Next project: Converting my 3ft freshwater fish planted tank into a shrimp tank.
If the wood is small enough for a pot, you can also boil it. It would help quicken the sinking and the rid of tannic acid. Pouring boiling water into your holding pail helps too.
Hmm.. for mine, scalded it (driftwood) with hot boiling water for a few times, then let it soaked for about a week (I'm more kiasu type...)Then when I finally put it into my tank, it sank instantly & does not lead any tannin at all...
same, i usually soak my in bleach first, then resoak in hot water at least 1 week before adding to the main tank, so that bleach gets broken down over a course of 7 days.
Last edited by Wackytpt; 25th May 2008 at 20:39. Reason: remove immediate quote
I've put mine into the tank last night.
Looking good so far...
I just put a DW (brought 2 yrs ago but not processed) into my nano tank last night. Basically I just washed it under running water for a minute or 2 and then poured hot boiling water onto it twice.
No visible tanin leeching from the DW after I out it into the tank.
Its good to be kiasu sometimes then regret later.Originally Posted by beetlejuice403
Hmm.. for mine, scalded it (driftwood) with hot boiling water for a few times, then let it soaked for about a week (I'm more kiasu type...)one week of soaking should be good enough.
i soak it in a pail of hot water for a day and then soak it for three weeks in the store room
My HighLand Terrarium, planting carnivorous plants and orchids
for some woods being rinsed or soaked for a short while still won;t show the full leeching effectI just put a DW (brought 2 yrs ago but not processed) into my nano tank last night. Basically I just washed it under running water for a minute or 2 and then poured hot boiling water onto it twice.
No visible tanin leeching from the DW after I out it into the tank.
so sometimes it pays to be more careful and spend more processing time on it
i had a bogwood once which shows only a little bit of color when rinsed
a very light tea color when soaked in normal water for 3 days
then when i soak in boiling water overnight, it leeched a bit more color
but the next day i was surprised to find that the whole pail of water was almost opaque black! totally cannot see the wood inside anymore!
and it left some permanent dark stains in my pail
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