Driftwood experts needed

erik333

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 9, 2014
57
3
8
Pennsylvania
I am using a heavy duty Rubbermaid 100 gal tub to soak some large pieces of driftwood for an upcoming tank I am working on. I have been soaking in tap water (well water - no chlorine) for a few weeks, changing 100% of the water every 5-7 days. Now that most of the brown color is leached out, I have 2 questions: 1) should I be adding a small amount of bleach to sterilize any potential contaminants - if so, how much should I be adding to the 100 gal tub? 2) I have noticed a substantial oil slick on the surface on the surface of the tub every time that I re-fill it after a water change. I have no aeration or water movement in the tub and I assume something is coming from the wood to cause this. Do you think it is potentially harmful? Thanks.
 

noelsfishland

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 2, 2013
422
1
33
In My Aquarium
I never treated any of my wood I have always bought hard sinking wood and never had a problem.I do not that the brown color that leaches out of the wood is toxic,but more of an esthetic problem,the oil that you see coming out might be natural for the type of wood you are using. Were did you get it from and what type of wood is it.Drift wood if you found it might have things in it that you do not know about.Bleach would not help if it is contaminated with chemicals from the the body of water that you got it
 

Pomatomus

Piranha
MFK Member
Jul 7, 2009
1,691
162
81
Sarasota, FL
1. It doesn't take much bleach to sterilize the wood, if you choose to do so. Maybe a capful or two? Probably just enough so that the water turns clear and you can smell a little bleach. A WORD OF CAUTION: I'd dry the wood really well after you bleach it. I've seen my former boss throw a piece of wood back into a tank after it was bleached and dried for a few of hours. Within hours of going in the tank the $500 flowerhorn was dead. Maybe add some prime to the tank when you add the wood as well, just as an extra precaution. I personally don't bleach my wood (even if I collect it from the woods) but I do soak them in tap water, so they get a bit of chlorine. Where I am you can safely add approximately 1% of your total tank's water volume in untreated tap water every 6 hours or so, meaning the tap water stored in the wood is of little concern to me. Of course, the amount you can safely add without treating depends on your water source and how loaded your system is with organics. MY water source treats with chloramine but this method doesn't bother my corals or discus!

2. The "slick" could either be oils leeching from the wood, or the usual bacterial film that grows in a stagnant body of water. The latter is often seen in aquariums with little or no surface agitation. I doubt it's harmful, but an aerator could fix if it you're concerned.
 

CanadianKeeper

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2012
1,252
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Ontario
1. It doesn't take much bleach to sterilize the wood, if you choose to do so. Maybe a capful or two? Probably just enough so that the water turns clear and you can smell a little bleach. A WORD OF CAUTION: I'd dry the wood really well after you bleach it. I've seen my former boss throw a piece of wood back into a tank after it was bleached and dried for a few of hours. Within hours of going in the tank the $500 flowerhorn was dead. Maybe add some prime to the tank when you add the wood as well, just as an extra precaution. I personally don't bleach my wood (even if I collect it from the woods) but I do soak them in tap water, so they get a bit of chlorine. Where I am you can safely add approximately 1% of your total tank's water volume in untreated tap water every 6 hours or so, meaning the tap water stored in the wood is of little concern to me. Of course, the amount you can safely add without treating depends on your water source and how loaded your system is with organics. MY water source treats with chloramine but this method doesn't bother my corals or discus!

2. The "slick" could either be oils leeching from the wood, or the usual bacterial film that grows in a stagnant body of water. The latter is often seen in aquariums with little or no surface agitation. I doubt it's harmful, but an aerator could fix if it you're concerned.
DO NOT USE BLEACH !!!!!

Some store carry antibacterial/parasite meds, drop some of that in with it for a week.
 

INTHECOWBOYSWETRUST

Candiru
MFK Member
Mar 13, 2013
517
27
46
TOLEDO OHIO
Well I hate to say this but I see a lot of people giving out bad/misleading information here... First off the brown stuff that comes out of the wood is not toxic or harmful at all, infact some say it is good for some fish... The wood will leach out tannins which slowly turn the water brown (this reduces with age). This is a harmless fungus and should disappear. ...

Second you can use bleach on the wood and it will not harm anything other then what you want it to kill off.. with a 100 gal tote I would add about 1/2 a gallon of bleach.. add the bleach then let it soak for a week, change that water out and add pure HOT water to it, change this water every 3 to 4 days adding all hot water every time you change it!! The hot water with help the wood release all the tannins much faster as well as help kill off any unwanted fungus or parasites that may be in or on the wood!!!
The most important thing to remember after using the bleach is to make sure to change the water with clean water several times after using it... If you can still smell the bleach it is NOT safe to use it yet!!!!

Myself once I know the wood is almost ready to use I will add Tetra Parasite Guard to the water just to make sure you kill off any unwanted parasites!! I hope this helps you some and good luck with the wood!!!
 

Pomatomus

Piranha
MFK Member
Jul 7, 2009
1,691
162
81
Sarasota, FL
Well I hate to say this but I see a lot of people giving out bad/misleading information here... First off the brown stuff that comes out of the wood is not toxic or harmful at all, infact some say it is good for some fish... The wood will leach out tannins which slowly turn the water brown (this reduces with age). This is a harmless fungus and should disappear. ...

Second you can use bleach on the wood and it will not harm anything other then what you want it to kill off.. with a 100 gal tote I would add about 1/2 a gallon of bleach.. add the bleach then let it soak for a week, change that water out and add pure HOT water to it, change this water every 3 to 4 days adding all hot water every time you change it!! The hot water with help the wood release all the tannins much faster as well as help kill off any unwanted fungus or parasites that may be in or on the wood!!!
The most important thing to remember after using the bleach is to make sure to change the water with clean water several times after using it... If you can still smell the bleach it is NOT safe to use it yet!!!!

Myself once I know the wood is almost ready to use I will add Tetra Parasite Guard to the water just to make sure you kill off any unwanted parasites!! I hope this helps you some and good luck with the wood!!!
Please read more carefully in the future. Nobody said tannins were bad. Tannic acid has nothing to do with fungus either. It naturally leeches from many plant products. It's the reason why tea and molasses are brownish in coloration.

But yes, bleach can be used. And if you choose to use it, just make sure you get it out of there by some method before adding it to the tank. I personally don't see any reason to treat for parasites or bacteria in addition to bleaching, as a proper bleach bath should kill these outright in theory. However, it won't hurt!
 

CanadianKeeper

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2012
1,252
72
66
Ontario
Ive seen so many people kill tanks with bleach, they claimed to have done all the steps right. just my .02

Maybe they lied an rushed it, who knows. Ive seen a lot of money lost because of bleach.
 

INTHECOWBOYSWETRUST

Candiru
MFK Member
Mar 13, 2013
517
27
46
TOLEDO OHIO
Ive seen so many people kill tanks with bleach, they claimed to have done all the steps right. just my .02

Maybe they lied an rushed it, who knows. Ive seen a lot of money lost because of bleach.
I could not agree with you more... I have seen lots of people kill lots of fish and waste lots of money because they don't know what they are doing or do it wrong!! And believe me if you don't use the bleach right and clean and dry it good it will kill anything in the tank!!! BUT.... If you do it right it is fine to use!!!
 

Pomatomus

Piranha
MFK Member
Jul 7, 2009
1,691
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81
Sarasota, FL
+1 I agree with the dangers noted above. Like I said, I've seen accidents happen. I can't stress how important it is to get the bleach out. If you're soaking the wood to leech tannins, dry the wood after. If you are trying to water-log the wood, I'd either treat with a product, treat with salt, or soak it in tap water. The chloride concentration is much lower in tap.
 

spiff44

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Dec 20, 2007
924
68
561
Midwest
Bleach is great for getting that bleached bone look on some wood and it disinfects as well. Plus its cheap and readily available.

Simply waiting enough time mitigates the threat of introducing bleach to the tank. People are impatient and just don't wait the couple weeks it might take to be sure the bleach gassed off after giving it a rinsing soak.

And then you have volume considerations... larger pieces of wood take longer treatments to penetrate properly.. hence longer periods of flushing and degassing any bleach. This would also pertain to wood size to tank size... a large piece of wood that would fill a tank means its more critical that its properly flushed since there is less water buffer.
 
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