Beth1965

I have this piece of driftwood that I'd like to put in my tank. I boiled it twice. I have to use a brush to get rid of the loose junk.... Still not convinced it's a good idea to put in even though I REALLY want it.
Will those of you who use driftwood tell me your experiences? Good and bad.
TU

O, i meant to mention, i am on the beach everyday... live on small island. if there are those who look for something that is not easily accessable to you i can prob help.(??)certain color stone, driftwood, etc... dont know if this is something we are allowed post _

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Butterfly

Beautiful piece of wood. Is it cedar ?
carol

Beth1965

i truly dont know. wouldnt know if it was teak.

capekate

Hi Beth
that looks like a nice piece of wood... and it looks like you have been cleaning it pretty well. As you know you have to really scrape off any loose or real soft wood so that you dont have it all over the tank.
If you have boiled it and it is no longer leaching tannins then I would IMO use that. You can also attach some live plants to it too. Drill a small hole and stuff in a plant with some floss to hold it in place.
I use driftwood in my tanks.. and have a long piece that has been in the process of getting cleaned for about a month now lol.. eventually I will get around to it. But I love the look of driftwood in a tank..
Im sure that piece would look great in yours.

Butterfly

I use found driftwood in my tanks after cleaning also. I have great luck with it.
the reason I asked about cedar is that it will hold oils and smell forever Those oils are not good for your tank. When cedar dried it has that beautiful gray color. does it have an odor when scratched? Or is it pinkish color when cut?
carol

Beth1965

mmm, there was plenty of tannins the first time i boiled it, i will still boil again though. and again and again if needed.
what are tannins anyway? i know of them in wine and wood but what are they?
there has been no smell and i haven't cut it open to look at color, but i will-actually, looking at it, i dont want to cut it anywhere. one of my concerns is the fact that it seems so "soft" of course it wasn't before i boiled it.

sirdarksol

Doesn't cedar/pine release some oil if it's heated in an oven? That would be an easy way to tell if it's cedar.

Lucy

Pine/cedar would have sap in them.....not good for tanks or fishies.

Beth1965

wouldnt i see the sap in the water? i DO know what sap is but what are tannins?
i should bake it too? to see the sap if its there? 250? how long?

Lucy

My knowledge of driftwood is very limited. I've been boiling/soaking a couple of peices for about about a week now.
Only from my camping experience do I know that the sap would bubble up if you baked a peice of pine.

Beth1965

ok, why have you been boiling/baking for a week? because of time restraints or to cure the wood? i ask because i really am not sure what im doing other than cleaning/curing the wood. im not asking to be a pain in the butt but because i want to know waht im doing and why

Lucy

Hey, it's no problem, ask as many questions as you need to.
I'm not sure how much help I can be. I learn from the questions other members ask too.
I bought my driftwood from a fish store that was in a tank. I started to boiled it to sterilize it, but it released a lot of tannins.
So I kept boiling to to get as much tanic acid as I could out. (You should see my stock pot. lol) It can leach into your tank water and turn it a tea color. Some people like it, some don't. Tanic acid can also lower your pH,
Now, this I'm not sure of so I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong, the more tanic acid left in the wood, the more the ph can drop.

The other peice was never in water so that released a heck of a lot more tannis than the first and it's not water logged like the other so it probably won't sink like the first peice.
These links have some good info about driftwood:
Driftwood Notes
Driftwood Basics
Driftwood Do's & Don'ts

Beth1965

Lucy, yes, I did understand that about tannins from other posts. So, that is why you are still boiling away. I am boiling again for the same reason, this is the third boil and the color is MUCH clearer but not CLEAR yet. Do you think I should be concerned that the wood feel so soft?

Lucy

I'm not sure about the softness.
I edited my post above to include some links that I've read.

Beth1965

I read the links you posted, tu. I think i'll be boiling 1 or 2 more x's, I like the look of the tannins in other tanks but not in mine.
I still need to scrub it-- i guess after that I'll see what's left (my worry about it being soft in some areas). i want to use this piece!!!!!! but I can always find another--such easy access here.

Shawnie

that is a faboo piece...I love the "wild" driftwood
it will be soft after soaking and boiling ..as long as its not falling apart, it will be fine...if you have already boiled 2-3 times and you arent getting anymore tannis, you probably are good to go..I miss the tannis look in my big 75 gal ....got so use to it that it doesnt look natural without it now LOL

TedsTank

you can't always boil all the tannins out...they will slowly leach into the tank. NOT a problem. It can lower you PH and acidify....NOT a problem....it is a VERY slow process and with normal weekly water changes you tank should remain stable. Boiling gets the worst/most of the tannis out and sterilizes the wood...assuming you live on an island in good salt water.....boiling will release most of the salts too, being driftwood from the ocean it would be fairly safe for freshwater because of the long ocean salt process.....and rinse, rinse , rinse. I do my driftwoods until i can sink them in the tank with a rock or something.....and I can rarely wait for months or even a month to do it.....never had a problem.

Beth1965

well after many boilings and some scrubbing, i think the piece is going to be great with some plants growing through it. the softness doesnt bother me anymore - after scrubbing it i realize that its much hardier than i thought. now i just need to wait for the plants to arrive (snail mail), in the meantime------------how many more pieces can i find?
thanx 4 all ur help