prince Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 i have a hollow driftwood that i bought at the auction and it is currently in a bucket with water. its been in water for about a week (changing water everyday) and everyday the water goes brown, it also smell a bit. is this normal? or is there something wrong with the driftwood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teflon Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 its called tennin(spelling) it will keep leaking for ages i have heard some people have put driftwood in their tanks 5 years earlier and is still leaking to this day. the best way i have found to do it is to get a storage container(go-lo for like $9) and completely cover with Boiling water(take caution) and buy the largest bottle of cheap vinegar you can find and tip desired amount into the boiling water and let sit for a couple of days. I did this with my latest peice of bogwood and was useable within a week and hasnt leaked yet. It also depends on the type of wood Hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prince Posted March 19, 2005 Author Share Posted March 19, 2005 vinegar? what kind of vingar? the white one? does it harm your fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teflon Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 white and when its stopped leaking then wash it off with more boiling water over a few days and no its dosent harm your fish if its done properly Hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prince Posted March 19, 2005 Author Share Posted March 19, 2005 how much vinegar you put in the boiling water? do you first cover the drift wood with boiling water then add vinegar? or you put half boiling water half vinegar? and does anyone know what cause the smell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teflon Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 put enough boiling water in the container to fully submerge the driftwood then add about 2 cups to the water the smell might be comming from the water being stagnant(off) but the driftwood will smell like vinegar anyways well until you rinse it off Hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Ok - the compounds that are leaching from the wood are tannic acids (and their derivatives). The ONLY way to get rid of tannins is to soak the wood so that most of the come out. Tannins are harmless to fish - though they will push the pH down in unbuffered aquaria. Hot water works better than cold as the tannins leach out quicker into warm water. Diffusion rates depend on a lot of things: 1. molecule size (tannins are BIG buggers M.Mass: up around 1700), 2. Temperature: higher temps = fast moving molecules. 2. Density of the thing they are diffusing through (ie: the wood in your case). There's lots of wierd theories on ways to make it go quicker (salt, bleach, yak dung, eye of newt). In reality, I suspect few of these will work, though I reckon yak dung might be worth a try *joking*. My tip: Soak in a big volume of water, for as long as you can, and you'll get rid of the tannins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prince Posted March 19, 2005 Author Share Posted March 19, 2005 do have to change the water everyday beacuse once i change the water the next day the water goes brown n if i leave it till the next day the water gets darker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canerod Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 When you say the wood smells, what does it smell like? If it smells rotten then you may find that after all the soaking and boiling the whole thing will fall apart because its rotten to the core, I've had that happen once or twice. If it smells a bit swampy a good scrub with a stiff brush to remove the soft surface material and all the soaking and boiling should get rid of the smell. I tried the yak dung idea once but the beast kicked me when i put his butt in the boiling water. As for changing water constantly, I wouldn't bother as the tannins will keep leaching out as long as there is more tannin in the wood than there is in the water. once a week is probably enough. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 If you can fit the piece into a large metal pot/tub - you can boil the water constantly. speeds things up. I've tried salt & bleach to speed things up, salt did nothing & bleach was only temporary (and made the wood white till the tannins leached back out) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prince Posted March 20, 2005 Author Share Posted March 20, 2005 i am not sure what it smell like but i don't think its rotton beacuse ht e wood is still hard. i can't really describe the smell how long does it take till it stop leaking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarTerror Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 how long does it take till it stop leaking? how long is a piece of string? can be from anywhere from a few days to afew months, I have one bit I have had soaking for about 2 months and its still leaching... Some woods are better than others, I found bleach and chlorine to speed the process up, just remember if you use any chemicals that it will need at least another week soaking in fresh water to be safe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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