Water tanning

[Jim T]

I have a very large piece of driftwood looks like a smalle tree trunk. Want to put it in a 125 gallon tank, but I don't want brown water. Will soaking it 24 hours a-day and changing water every morning get the tanning out? If not is it safe to varnish the wood, and will plants grow on it afterwards? Also will it make the wood look weird?

Edited March 1, 2021 by Jim T

[FrozenFins]

I boil all my driftwood for 30-40 minutes to release all the tannins. 

Happy Fish Keeping!

[Jim T]

Thank you, but it's way to big to boil. 

[Daniel]

Varnishing the wood is not a good idea. Varnish is not something you want in your aquarium.

[Eric R]

13 hours ago, Jim T said:

I have a very large piece of driftwood looks like a smalle tree trunk. Want to put it in a 125 gallon tank, but I don't want brown water. Will soaking it 24 hours a-day and changing water every morning get the tanning out? If not is it safe to varnish the wood, and will plants grow on it afterwards? Also will it make the wood look weird?

I agree with @Daniel, in general you should be very careful with what you put in your tank, and varnish is not a good idea. 

Soaking in a large tub and changing the water when it gets dark will eventually get rid of the tannins, though it could take a while. This will also help to waterlog the wood so it will sink instead of float. Change the water every day to a few days for several weeks, depending on how darkly tinted the water is. You can try using hot water instead of cold to accelerate the process.

The type of wood, and how aged it is already will affect how much leeching of tannins you'll have.

You can also try running purigen or carbon in your filter, as this will help remove any remaining tannins from your tank water.

FWIW, the tannins tends to have a positive affect on most aquarium fish, and it more closely replicates the environment they come from.

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by ererer

[Jim T]

Thank you. That's what I was thimking. It was one of the things google suggested. Also seems like it would make it shiny. 

[Jim T]

Thank you.

[Hobbit]

Even if you don’t get all the tannins out from soaking, eventually with just your normal water change schedule you’ll get the tannins out of your tank. The wood won’t release them forever. So if you hang in there, eventually you’ll have your beautiful wood and clear water as well. Plus as others have said, there’s nothing harmful (and actually a lot that’s beneficial) about the tannins, so you can rest easy in the meantime. The real trick, I’ve found, is to find a way to keep the wood underwater. 😄 Left to their own devices, those big pieces will float for years.

[Will Billy]

I too have a large piece of wood that i was unable to boil. I have a 17 gallon tote that i converted to a hospital / quarantine tank. I would boil the water and then carefully pour it into the tote with the drift wood. 

[b_ball34]

Or if you had a canister or HOB on your tank you could put it in as is use carbon or purigen that would get the tannins out before it becomes visible.