Persistent tannins, how to remove

[thomasjohnlynch]

This is getting to be a joke with me and my wife.....my daughter has been soaking this big hunk of driftwood for MONTHS/over a year at our last house and now two months at this new house. It was in the tank and made the dank tea colored, and then we soaked it again (maybe 20 to 30 times at 2 to 3 days a soak in a 5 gallon bucket)

(btw she dumped the tank on me and its in my home office!!!! so now my ocd levels will not allow for tea bag water.)

This is ridiculous. We moved the whole tank and put the dumb placo in it. And it looks perfect. I did try boiling the chunk o wood in a big spaghetti pot when my wife was out of the house for the day. - we got caught and lied that we were going to boil a big pot of noodles (I think she knows???)

I really don't want to put this wood in there if its going to leach out more oil......

We run a PennPlax Cascade 500 with carbon but that either was overwhelmed by the oils before or isn't cutting it for removal. Here (pics attached) is the common placo and as you can see the water quality and clarity are awesome....... (btw got this glass surface 'skimmer' - this thing is a game changer!!!!)

I think unless I can get some awesome words of wisdom or technique from you folks , this hunk-o-wood is going in the trash and my daughter is gonna give us back our laundry room sink after over a year.

 

[Fishfur]

Oils? Wood isn’t known for releasing oils - just tannins. That looks like Mopani wood which happens to be heavily laden with tannins & will carry on leaching for years, though less & less as time goes on.

You can use bleach in the soaking water which will remove more of the tannins faster than boiling ever will, but even bleach can’t remove them all and you have to keep adding more bleach as the reaction with tannins neutralizes it.

If the appearance of tannin stained water drives you nuts then I wouldn’t use any wood because there’s no way to avoid at least some discolouration of the water.

For carbon to remove most of the tannins you would have to replace it frequently because it would quickly become unable to adsorb any more of them - probably every 7-10 days for a very long time.

 

[thomasjohnlynch]

Oil/tannin/byproducts/mold/fungus/bacteria..... Thank you, this sounds like of course our EXACT experience and according to possibly Einstein the definition of INSANITY - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

We will get something more benign and water safe.

VERY much appreciate your prompt and experienced feedback!!!!

 

[Fishfur]

Oil/tannin/byproducts/mold/fungus/bacteria..... Thank you, this sounds like of course our EXACT experience and according to possibly Einstein the definition of INSANITY - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

We will get something more benign and water safe.

VERY much appreciate your prompt and experienced feedback!!!!

You are most welcome.

If the appearance of wood is desirable but not the tannins, then there are some faux wood decor pieces made of resins that might suit, though the most realistic looking pieces aren’t particularly cheap.

For most of us, what comes with natural wood is mostly very desirable too - but an oily looking film on the surface comes from many sources, among them the fats & protein in fish foods.

 

[TClare]

I would be happy to find wood that leaches so much after so long! Tannins are beneficial. But if you don't like the look you can use Seachem purigen in the filter. It might get used up quickly, but can be reused with treatment, I have never used it myself so can't say exactly how effective it will be but it should help.

 

[thomasjohnlynch]

I would be happy to find wood that leaches so much after so long! Tannins are beneficial. But if you don't like the look you can use Seachem purigen in the filter. It might get used up quickly, but can be reused with treatment, I have never used it myself so can't say exactly how effective it will be but it should help.

Thank you for the response. I think I will go the faux wood or ceramic route. I need more simplicity and less maintenance.....

You are most welcome.

If the appearance of wood is desirable but not the tannins, then there are some faux wood decor pieces made of resins that might suit, though the most realistic looking pieces aren’t particularly cheap.

For most of us, what comes with natural wood is mostly very desirable too - but an oily looking film on the surface comes from many sources, among them the fats & protein in fish foods.

I saw in one of your other responses somewhere a mention of "shutting down" are you meaning this Forum or Board??