David593

Well I have a 55 gallon tank with two peices of driftwood in it (one small one big). The driftwood is still releasing a little tannins. It has kept my pH below the charts at 6.0 or lower. I want my ph to be closer to neutral just so that I can get a reading and moniter the ph. So today I took the small driftwood and put it in a bucket with 2.5 gallons of water (it is covered completely). It has been 7 hours now. The water does not seem stained with tannins but the ph is lower. Could the ph be lower just from the little amount of water sitting for 7 hours, or is the driftwood at fault. Also is their anyway to treat the driftwood so that it does not affect the ph?

agabr123

i'm pretty sure that pH is supposed to get higher the longer you let the water sit (up to a point) so i assume it's the driftwood. you might want to try boiling the driftwood instead of just letting it soak, because the soaking could take weeks to months to get rid of all the tannins.

David593

well the thing that is confusing me is that there is no color. Can it release tannins without color? The water is the same color. I can boil it. I already did for an hour so how much longer do you suggest?

agabr123

was there any coloring in your main tank when it was in there? if you've already boiled it for an hour that should have taken care of it.....have you tested your pH out of the tap?

David593

The tank has some yellow in it, so I am guessing it is the big driftwood. The tap water is always around the 7.4 - 7.6 mark. So the ph went down in the bucket, yet no color. I will try to soack the bigger peice as well or boil it some more. I thought 1 hr would be alright, but i guess it didn't get it all.