Wood advice needed??

[octofasciatus]

Just setting up a new tank for American cichlids. Dont want to fork out for overpriced bogwood.

What is best way to treat wood and what are the best woods to use in the aquarium.

I would really like to put a tree stump in there as my centre piece but I am aware of some woods leaching crap into my tank.

Advice appreciated - thanks in advance.

 

[Kitiara]

make sure your wood is well and truely dead and boil it well with several water changes. The larger/thicker the wood the longer it will need to be boiled for.

Boiling will get rid of a lot of the tannins that leach into your wood but not all. To prevent your tank going yellowish from the tannin put carbon in the filter (or Purigen (sp?) this will help remove the coloring.

Wood can leach tannin for months. Boiling hastens the process. I boiled mine for half a day and soaked for a couple of weeks after and it was still leaching tannin when I put it in the tank a week ago. So far the carbon in the filter has prevented any noticeable yellowing of the water

 

[Ianab]

Look for pieces of hardwood, old dead stuff thats been laying about for ages.

Oak and other hardwoods are a good choice, avoid pines or cedars, they are more likely to leach toxic chemicals than hardwoods.

Like Kitiara says, then give it a good soak and a boil if it's small enough. You can judge by the water in the soaking tub after a few days how much it's going to affect your tank water. If the piece is too fresh then the water will go really murky, keep soaking and boiling it untill the leaching slows down.

Cheers

Ian

 

[snake513]

Look for pieces of hardwood, old dead stuff thats been laying about for ages.

Oak and other hardwoods are a good choice, avoid pines or cedars, they are more likely to leach toxic chemicals than hardwoods.

Like Kitiara says, then give it a good soak and a boil if it's small enough. You can judge by the water in the soaking tub after a few days how much it's going to affect your tank water. If the piece is too fresh then the water will go really murky, keep soaking and boiling it untill the leaching slows down.

Cheers

Ian

i agree but if its a big piece that you cant boil then just soak it for a few weeks changing water frequntly i just did this and it worked great for me.no matter how long you soak its proballly still going to release some tannins so have your carbon ready