KyWildFish

I am new to this forum and to the aquarium world. I made sure to do LOTS of research and spend lots of time picking out everything for my first aquarium. I am cycling at the moment and dont know my readings as I stupidly bought strips instead of an API DOH!

My issues are with a piece of driftwood I purchased at the LFS. Its a fairly good sized piece and I asked the girl who was in charge if it was pre-soaked and she said yeah, just plop it in. Yeah right, I threw that bad boy in a bucket and let is soak. Tons of tannins came out for the first little while then it subsided. I thought I better give it one more soak in water that was dechlorinated and the next morning the water was very yellow, almost as though I just bought it. Any ideas on why this happened? Im at a loss.

Another issue I am having is the dag-on thing wont sink. Ive had it in the water for going on two weeks and it still bobs out of the water like a fishing bobber. I had been using a stock pot but it started to rust a little and the lady wasnt cool with that so I just let it float. I saw in another post that one of the gurus on here mentioned waiting for her's to not need a rock on it. Will my piece eventually sink or will I need to anchor it down with something. This isnt a huge problem as I can just scoot the slate its mounted on under one of my big lace rocks.

Any help for this newb would be very nice. Cheers!

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!! (if i missed your first post ) sometimes the LFS dont give us correct info..so lesson learned, dont trust them!! LOL

dont rack yourself about the test strips, we all have tried them thinking great advice and super easy so why not ....

putting the slate on it works wonders, but takes a few weeks..so id go that route.......goodluck!

Butterfly

It will EVENTUALLY quit leeching tannins I think the piece I have in the 75g would still float if there weren't a rock screwed to the bottom. Different woods have different densities and if it makes sense some will float forever so I just use stainless steel screws and attach a flat rock and be done with it.
Carol

KyWildFish

This morning I checked the wood and its not leeching tannins any longer. I am almost afraid to put any water conditioner in as it seemed to draw more tannins out. Anyone know what chemicals are used to dechlorinate and maybe I can use my scientist brain to figure out a probably cause?

(also its already attached to a piece of slate, its just not big enough, who ever put the slate on you think would have tested it, oh well)

EDIT: I just tried to put the stupid thing in, even with loads of gravel and a big 10 lb stone on its already slate base, it floats. Needless to say its going back to the LFS and I am getting a small sinking piece.

Calab

You need to water log the wood first... That means between a week and a month of soaking. If you haven't soaked for at least a week, you will still have tonnes of tannins and the wood may still float.

What I suggest is to boil the wood for an hour or two, changing the water a few times. That gets rid of the tannins and will soak the wood really well!

KyWildFish

Been well over two weeks and its still the same buoyancy. The tannins appear to have stopped but the wood will still float exactly 6 inches out of the water, the same as after the first 4 days of saoking, it hasn't changed I measured. The issue I believe lies with both the type of wood (very buoyant) and the piece of slate they fixed it too (WAY too small). I thought about attaching the existing slate to another large piece and wedging all that under the large rock I have but after looking at it in the water I decided it wasnt the look I wanted any way. Its too plain and doesnt really do anything for the asteic or for shelter, its just a piece of wood. I decided that I will exchange it for another type of wood (a sinking variety) and start the soaking cycle all over, I have the patience to make it look right and be safe for my fish.

KyWildFish

Took the problematic driftwood back to the LFS and changed it out for a new smaller piece of swahalla wood. Its much darker and smaller but should look better in the tank, it sinks without being weighed and seems to have less tannins at first. I am much happier.