Do You Have To Boil Driftwood?

I know the title is misleading, I know that boiling the driftwood sterlizes it and kills any fungal spores that may be present, but how many times do I need to boil it if I want tannins to soften my pH?

 

if you want tannins then don't do anything to the driftwood

 

The amount of change in PH using driftwood, is negligible. What is your PH and why are you trying to soften it?

 

The amount of change in PH using driftwood, is negligible. What is your PH and why are you trying to soften it?

My pH is 8.2, I wanted to soften it without using chemicals for the fish I'm getting. From research I've learned that the fish I'm going to stock usually like their pH from 7.0 to 7.5

 

It is more important to have a steady PH than trying to change it. Most fish do adapt to higher ph, than what is stated on different sites.

 

It is more important to have a steady PH than trying to change it. Most fish do adapt to higher ph, than what is stated on different sites.

Thank you!

Most of the fish I'm going to have are going to be hardy like guppies, my betta has already adjusted to my pH. I guess I'll leave it hard and just boil the wood

 

Actually Guppies and other live bearers, do adopt easily to higher PH and harder water. I would say you're well on your way. Good luck.

 

Actually Guppies and other live bearers, do adopt easily to higher PH and harder water. I would say you're well on your way. Good luck.

Thanks again (I had no idea, nice to have that info)!

 

Besides, after 3-6 months the wood will stop giving off tannins anyway

 

No, you do not need to boil driftwood, some do and some don't.
If you want tannins, just rinse it off in warm water, and put it into your tank.

If you don't want tannins, you can boil it for a couple days like I did to some of mine.
I just boiled it for a few hours per day and changed the water, repeated for a week or so.

 

What is tannins?? Would you recommend boiling it for shrimp and pleco?

 

It's a chemical that turns the water brownish and lowers the pH. But, the color comes and goes as you do water changes, and after awhile, the wood will stop leeching out. Shrimp don't really want a low pH water. Also, some wood is much worse than others. MopanI has a lot of tannins.

 

I like a low level of tannins in my water, but here is a great way to prepare your wood for your aquarium:

We have no idea what's on the wood that we find in a park or even purchase in a store. This method is the best method to ensure that anything we do not want in our tanks is not there!

 

I had an issue when I first put in driftwood, the first time ever, because I didn't know that the possibility of yellowing the water, and lowering pH was there, and it was suggested to me to take a fine net and Seachem's Purigen pouch, and attach it to either a powerhead, or the intake on a filter, and it will remove the tannins. It worked extremely quickly!

 

I saw these two pieces of Malaysian wood I want to get for my tank at Petland. Now my question is, do I really have to boil them in order to put them in my tank or can I just add them straight to the tank?

They are huge and I don't have a big enough pot to even fit those huge pieces of wood

 

No just rinse well. That is usually for wood found outdoors. Although if it floats still, you may have to weight it down if you don’t boil it. I’m not sure how petstores treat the wood first.

 

No just rinse well. That is usually for wood found outdoors. Although if it floats still, you may have to weight it down if you don’t boil it. I’m not sure how petstores treat the wood first.

got it, What about it making the water brown? if I don't boil it, would it make my water brown?

 

got it, What about it making the water brown? if I don't boil it, would it make my water brown?

I would think since it’s for an aquarium (unless it says reptiles?) then it should be ok and ready to go. Tannins are harmless though, if it does it’ll go away in a few water changes. Rinse well though first.

 

great! thanks.

 

I saw these two pieces of Malaysian wood I want to get for my tank at Petland. Now my question is, do I really have to boil them in order to put them in my tank or can I just add them straight to the tank?

They are huge and I don't have a big enough pot to even fit those huge pieces of wood

from what ive read. Tannins themselves are harmless to your fish. however, they could lower your ph. so if you have any fish sensitive to potential ph drop. I would be wary of that

 

from what ive read. Tannins themselves are harmless to your fish. however, they could lower your ph. so if you have any fish sensitive to potential ph drop. I would be wary of that

I'm not too worry about the PH, the tank is currently empty.

 

I'm not too worry about the PH, the tank is currently empty.

alright . well that's good.also boiled wood sinks much faster than soaking unboiled wood. if you want to hurry things up, not suggestions just thoughts I have.. good luck with your tank

 

alright . well that's good.also boiled wood sinks much faster than soaking unboiled wood. if you want to hurry things up, not suggestions just thoughts I have.. good luck with your tank

I wouldnt mind boiling it but these pieces are way to big to even fit in my pots! lol so that's why I was curious if adding them straight to the tank would mess up anything. I have done driftwood before but always boiled them

 

I usually soak driftwood in a bucket for a few days. I change the water with hot tap water every day.

 

you could boil one end and after a while turn the wood over and boil the other end maybe heh it won't fold like spaghetti, but I'm seeing the same scenario ^_^

I wouldnt mind boiling it but these pieces are way to big to even fit in my pots! lol so that's why I was curious if adding them straight to the tank would mess up anything. I have done driftwood before but always boiled them

 

I just pour boiling water on mine to kill anything on it.

 

If you want to boil them just boil some water, leave the wood outside and pour it on the wood...at least that will kill off any bad stuff that it might have on the outside. Or use a ladle.

 

Great ideas guys! Thanks

 

I never boil wood.

 

Scrubbing and leaving it outside to get waterlogged and leach tannins out is how ive always done it. Malaysian DW is a denser type of wood, and releases a lot of tannins as well. It may take a few weeks to completely water-log and release the tannins if you're willing to wait, if not, then you can add it directly to your tank and weigh it down with rocks.

 

so this is what I did.

I filled my whole sink with boiling water and left it there for a few hours. and kept adding hot water as the water got darker and until the water was clear. I placed the woods in the tank last night and so far so good! no tannins which I was afraid of the water getting dark or tan.




here is the wood in the tank, which I must say I hate how it looks I have to figure out how to position them so it doesn't look like just two pieces of wood thrown in there


added some of my mollies from my other tanks this morning