Now you let it sit in a bucket for a couple weeks, changing water regularly until it stops discoloring the water. Or you put it in your tank, confident that it won't harm anything, but will discolor the water for a few weeks, which you can ignore (or even enjoy!) or combat - with limited effectiveness - with carbon in your filter. With no carbon, from what I've read, the tea-color will eventually go away, but that could possibly take months depending on the size of the wood.
Mopani
I've never used this stuff before. I've been boiling this piece for 6 hours, changing the water every hour or so, and the water is just as dark now as it was when I started. What now?
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
I just boil it for 5-6 hours then soak it in a bucket for about a week, changing the water out once a day. After that, I haven't had it effect the color of the water too much in the tank. But the tannins that it does release are actually good for fish, so even if you don't want to soak it for so long it won't hurt anything.
I think the whole carbon thing is bs. The only way I could ever get rid of tannins is with large water changes.
I think the whole carbon thing is bs. The only way I could ever get rid of tannins is with large water changes.
Put it in your tank. If you get tannins, change water and add carbon. A lot of fish enjoy the tannins.
Yes, I am using it now in my 90 gal planted tank.
I was lucky and got several jumbo size pieces, and I will say that they do look fantastic in the tank.
However, curing them was a long drawn out process. It took me several months to get them to where I could use them.
I used a large round Rubbermaid trash can to do the curing. I first started soaking them using tap water. At the start, the water would turn dark brown even before the container was full. After changing the water every day for about a week, it got to the point where it didn't turn dark brown right away.
Then I started by using hot tap water, and was right back where I started. I did that for about a week.
Then I used hot tap water and rock salt, again, almost right back where I started.
The I switched to hot water and bleach. After a few soaks in that, I started to make some progress. Now it took overnight for the water to turn dark brown.
Next I alternated, a soak with hot water and rock salt, a soak hot water and with bleach, a hot water soak.
Finally, after about 2 months of this, I got to the point where I got a very light tea color after several days. It was now more or less ready for use.
A few notes -
Most of the soaks lasted from 1 to 3 days, depending on how quickly the water changes to dark brown. The faster it turned the less time between soak water changes.
If you use bleach, do not mix it with any other chemicals, including salt. It's possible to cause a reaction and release chlorine gas.
I did this to several extremely large pieces. Smaller pieces would likely take a lot less time.
When I placed it in the tank, I used carbon and Poly Filter Pads in the filtration to keep the tannin color down for the next couple of months. Obviously I disagree with people that say carbon is useless or doesn't do much. As an addition note, I used a very high quality, for real, good enough for my reef carbon. Lessor grade carbons, especially some of the low price, common aquarium grade, carbons may give vastly inferior results.
Overall, it was worth the effort the Mopani driftwood does look fantastic, and I don't need to hang rocks on it, or uses other means to keep it underwater. It did take time to cure, and I admit that at times I was very frustrated that the process was taking so long.
I was lucky and got several jumbo size pieces, and I will say that they do look fantastic in the tank.
However, curing them was a long drawn out process. It took me several months to get them to where I could use them.
I used a large round Rubbermaid trash can to do the curing. I first started soaking them using tap water. At the start, the water would turn dark brown even before the container was full. After changing the water every day for about a week, it got to the point where it didn't turn dark brown right away.
Then I started by using hot tap water, and was right back where I started. I did that for about a week.
Then I used hot tap water and rock salt, again, almost right back where I started.
The I switched to hot water and bleach. After a few soaks in that, I started to make some progress. Now it took overnight for the water to turn dark brown.
Next I alternated, a soak with hot water and rock salt, a soak hot water and with bleach, a hot water soak.
Finally, after about 2 months of this, I got to the point where I got a very light tea color after several days. It was now more or less ready for use.
A few notes -
Most of the soaks lasted from 1 to 3 days, depending on how quickly the water changes to dark brown. The faster it turned the less time between soak water changes.
If you use bleach, do not mix it with any other chemicals, including salt. It's possible to cause a reaction and release chlorine gas.
I did this to several extremely large pieces. Smaller pieces would likely take a lot less time.
When I placed it in the tank, I used carbon and Poly Filter Pads in the filtration to keep the tannin color down for the next couple of months. Obviously I disagree with people that say carbon is useless or doesn't do much. As an addition note, I used a very high quality, for real, good enough for my reef carbon. Lessor grade carbons, especially some of the low price, common aquarium grade, carbons may give vastly inferior results.
Overall, it was worth the effort the Mopani driftwood does look fantastic, and I don't need to hang rocks on it, or uses other means to keep it underwater. It did take time to cure, and I admit that at times I was very frustrated that the process was taking so long.
Thanks everybody for the advice. I'll try soaking it in a bucket for awhile,but I don't think I can wait 2 months.
Now, can anyone tell me how to get this nice, gummy red ring out of my stock pot?? :tongue:
Now, can anyone tell me how to get this nice, gummy red ring out of my stock pot?? :tongue:
A good scrubbing :hihi:Thanks everybody for the advice. I'll try soaking it in a bucket for awhile,but I don't think I can wait 2 months.
Now, can anyone tell me how to get this nice, gummy red ring out of my stock pot?? :tongue:
SOS pads work wonders
roud:
i soaked my wood for 2 weeks then boiled it with sea salt for 3 hours then let it soak another 2 days then put it in my tank. havent had any problems yet but it has only been in the tank for 3 days
Keep in mind that I had 3 extremely large pieces. They would just about fit in a 45 gal trash can. Large pieces take much longer to cure. You may ony need a few weeks. As for waiting 2 months. I didn't want to wait that long either but that's what it took. The choices come down to giving up and using something else or continuing the cure process.Thanks everybody for the advice. I'll try soaking it in a bucket for awhile but I don't think I can wait 2 months. Now can anyone tell me how to get this nice gummy red ring out of my stock pot?? :tongue:
I put about about 30 lbs in my tank. I boiled them for about 8 hrs a night for a week changing the water every hour or so. They still yellowed my water slightly throughout the course of a week but it was inperceptable for a day or two after 50% water changes. It's been in the water for a couple months now and isn't leaching enough to discolor the water any noticeable amount. I have a few pieces that still discolor the water in my 5 gallon tank over the course of a week after being in the water for 2 months or so but I didn't cure them very long. The tank has no fauna in it so I'm not terribly concerned although the word on the street is that tannins don't hurt anything anyways.
Soaked my "large" piece for about 2 wks changing water every day until the water looked clear then put in my tank. The only time I've boiled is when I bought used and that was for sterilization. It's good to let the tannins leach out a bit if there is heavy leaching. Depending on the size of the wood and amount of leaching vs. water volume the tannic acid can cause a PH crash.
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
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