Scott H

I found this piece of wood on the bank of a creek and had to have it but here's the problem... its huge... really huge...(12"x12"x45") I've had it soaking in a spare tank for 6 weeks changing the water every two days and still loads of tannins just keep coming out is there a faster way to do this or do i just have to wait it out?

here's a few pics,

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Lucy

That's a great looking peice of drift wood.
I'd suggest boiling it, but I doubt you have a pot big enough. lol
Maybe a cauldron over on open flame.

callichma

That is really a pretty piece of wood. Check out the driftwood section. I read a thread there about boiling the wood to get the tannins out. that's what I did. Mine was big, too. It was the African hardwood. Used my turkey fryer and boiled it twice for about an hour each time. It's in my tank now and not leaching tannins into the water. Good luck. I love the natural look of wood in the tank.

I need to type faster, I guess. But you know what they say--great minds think alike. Haha!

JaneAustenAddict

Great piece of wood. I bet it's going to look amazing in your tank. I can't help you find a faster way to remove the tannis, I have been soaking my wood as well and the water is still sickeningly yellow.

Lucy

Carbon and water changes should help. I boiled and soaked mine for weeks and still have tannis in the tank.

Scott H

normally i dont mind some tannin in the water but this turns the water in one of my 55gal tanks a dark brown in just a day or two and has done that 16 or 17 times...

also its still floating and i was wondering whats the best way to fix some slate to it to make it sink?

Lucy

There are some suggestions here:
Driftwood Notes

Tony G.

great looking piece! just one warning... dont microwave it
its dangerous LOL

pepetj

Why not let the tanins go by? I let most my driftwood do their thing (except where the Kenyi are). As Lucy stated, using activated charcoal on a regular basis will take care of the tannins if you (or your fish) don't like the tea-colored water.

Nice piece of driftwood you got there!

Pepetj
Santo Domingo

callichma

As Lucy said--activated carbon can remove tannins from the water. That may be why my water is not brown. I added carbon to the extra tray in the filter because of another problem.

aquarist48

Hello Scott. Great find there! Beautiful piece of wood. I agree about using the carbon to remove the brown tint of your water. Here is a link you may find helpful as well:
Driftwood Do's & Don'ts
Ken

Beth1965

If you decide to boil the DW, put one half in the pot and then when finished, simply put the other end in the pot and boil it.

Scott H

Thanks for the great info and links guys. I'll try a few of those methods and get back to you in a couple weeks.
thank again.

Melissawater

We added rocks and decor (from the aquarium it is already in) to the top of ours to weigh it down so it wouldn't float up, I think it took about 1 1/2- 2 weeks for it to finally sink! Ours still leaks tannin in small amounts and we do use activated carbon, but the tannins are not really that noticeable now.

Beth1965

U can also just tie to to a safe heavy rock or slate, this way you wont lose the look of the DW.

Melissawater

After the 2 weeks we took the rocks and decor off so it looks like it's supposed to lol. I forgot to add that, now it is free standing all by itself.

TedsTank

The tannins will eventually all leach out.

Regular water changes will keep the coloring to a minimum.

If you use charcoal in your filter, remember to change it out every couple of 3 weeks.

All driftwood is different, different species of trees etc.

mikea079

beautiful piece of wood you found on the bank, i would try and boil it first off. i woudn't wanna see you taking any chances of introducing any parasites or bacteria into your tank. then let it dry out, and then start the soaking process to leach out all the tannins. what i do is use a good size plastic tub, something along the lines of tupperware or anything like that. i do a 100% water change every 12 hours. this soaking process may take a while. my mopannin wood took me 3 weeks of this process to place it in my tank.

Lucy

This thread is pretty old.
Don't forget to check the dates before replying.
Thanks!