jack--sos

I went to my LPS today and picked up a couple of pieces of Mopani Wood at £6 each, the label said it had already been treated and all i needed to do was soak it in water to release the tannins. so i have left it outside in a bucket of water.
Question 1, How long will it take for most of the Tannins to leave the wood?
Question 2, It will Probably freeze tonight and was wondering will it still be ok to leave the wood outside?

jdhef

I do not have any experiance with putting wood in an aquarium, so take this advice for what it's worth. I hope if I'm wrong, someone will correct me.

It will rpobably tank a couple of weeks at the minimum for the tannins to leach out. It would also probably be better to not have the bucket freeze, since it could break the wood and the tannins probably won't leach out as quickly.

Dozey

You should be using tank water (from a water change). If you are using tap water the wood will absorb chlorine. I wouldn’t let the water freeze as this wouldn’t really be soaking the wood and may even crack the wood. A good 48 hour soak should do. And if you have an air stone that you can throw into the bucket it would be an added bonus.

jack--sos

ah ok thanks, so il put it in the garage to night and put my aquarium water in there tomorrow when i do a water change, thanks jdhef and Dozey

shih-tzu mom

Hi: i have driftwood and has been soaking for at least 2-plus month's and is still leaking a brown substance and it has been in a bucket and boiling water poured over it daily and i have now dried it out and then i baked in a 200% for 3-days so maybe it would be tank safe and ready. hope this helps you. bella

isis

I'm also treating wood now... and boy the brown in the water just won't go away! So just be patient and keep soaking it.

fishlover78

yeah it takes a while, its even worse when you can't get the wood to sink! but overall it really adds a nice look to the tank!

isis

... and when you cannot wait for it to go into your tank... especially when you know it's going to look real awesome!!!

fishlover78

isn't that the worst part?, but in the end it always looks awesome. this hobby takes patience in areas like cycling, cleaning a tank, acclimating fish, equipment maintenance and um lets see, soaking mopani wood

isis

Here is the wood that I''m busy with... i cannot wait! You are right it is the worst part ever!!.... the wait...
Photo0343.jpg

fishlover78

nice wood!

isis

Thank you