I just added a huge peace of store boughten driftwood and is put a major brown tint to my tank how do I get rid of it!
HELP!! NEW DRIFTWOOD
- Thread starter freshyfishy
- Start date
Take it out and soak it in tap water for a couple of days or you could boil it. I had a piece I found at the lake it was huge 4 feet long and hollow thru the middle. What I did is take a plastic tarp and a couple of rubbermaid containers for the base, put the tarp in the middle and place sever cylinder blocks on the containers to hold it tight. I Sprayed it off good and filled the trough and soaked it foe two days. Changing the water every 8 hours or so. The tap water will kill any organisims or unwanted things. Just my 2cents.
As for the tint in the water. Water changes over the next couple of weeks is about the only way to get rid of it.
As for the tint in the water. Water changes over the next couple of weeks is about the only way to get rid of it.
Two things need to be done. 1 since you have already put it in your tank you will likely have to gravel vac like mad. If you did not rinse it really well, all the particles that were loose are now at the bottom of you tank. Driftwood needs to be boiled generally, to kill micro-organisms off. To get rid of tanins, usually turn water yellowish, water changes are the only way.
freshyfishy;525368; said:
Sorry but you didn't buy driftwood. Stores and the jerks on eBay are selling pieces of root system that was recently dug up after cutting down a live tree. They are pressure washed and then wire brushed to remove barkish covering. I have seen misleading statements like "shipped dry to save on shipping costs", implying that it is real drift wood. (right after stating that it was pressure washed and wire brushed). Real drift wood does not need to be pressure washed or wire brushed AND IT DOES NOT RELEASE TANINS OR COLORATION. Real drift wood spent months or years DRIFTING in water. The only thing you should need to do is soak it again.
Oh, and the bark falls off by itself so real drift wood does not need to be wire brushed or pressure washed. And think about it, if you have a root system clogged with dirt and you need to wirebrush the bark layer off...and you didn't presure wash it first....Hmmmm
CHOMPERS;525629; said:
Sorry chompers I collect my own driftwood all the time and it will tint your tank atleast out of the mississippi river and its backwaters and the pressure washing and wire brushing is a good idea for any algea, bacteria and organisms growing on it. As well as any loose particles. I dont doubt that people do sell false driftwood, however I did purchase some very nice large pieces of malaysian driftwood from Drs. Foster & Smith and I had to soak them both for about three weeks to get rid of the tint but they are very nice pieces and definitly driftwood. I wound recomend that if you want to purchase driftwood order the large malaysian driftwood from Drs. Foster & Smith
I bought a piece of driftwood today, I think it is a good piece. I trust the guy that I buy my fish from so I do not doubt it. It is just a little peice because it is all I could afford. It is soaking in a 5 gallon bucket right now and I am going to change the water again right now. I use really hot water out of the tap, is that bad? I really like the piece I got and I can't wait for it to soak up enough water so I can put it in my tank.
mac;525641; said:
ive got all my driftwood from a lake and have never had any problems with my tank getting tinted. as for you FreshyFishy i would add active carbon, i think it gets out the dyes
mac;525641; said:
I stand corrected. I collected my driftwood from the Boundry Waters in Minnesota. They do not release any coloration in the least. Algae there is also hard to find. I guess it depends a lot on were you get it and how you want to define drift wood. I would never take a piece of water logged wood from Florida's fresh waters and call it drift wood. Most of the waters here are black from unreal levels of tanic acid. Being covered in grass and algae goo is also a given. Then there is the Florida fresh water STANK that you have to deal with. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it is going to leach out tanins. I would rather deal with store bought drift wood than Florida fresh water stuff. (there are exceptions due to our spring fed rivers.)
By the way, all of the drift wood sold at Petsmart and Petco here never "drifted". Same for two of the LFS's that I go to.
Good quality carbons will remove the tanins and dyes that leach from your driftwood. Depending on your fish requirements you may be better off to live with tanins. They are excellant low pH buffers, particularly in soft water