[Missing]

I bought a small (10" long 4" tall 5" wide) Malaysian wood piece. I read about tannin it can cause so I put it in a two gallon tank with hot water. It sat there for about three hours and the water is crystal clear, no yellow shade at all.

I changed the water just in case, but is it possible it won't leak tannin since the water was clear the first cleaning? Should I keep soaking it for a few days? I know it won't hurt anything, but after clearing out a planaria issue, I'm really focused on keeping my water as crystal clear as possible. xD

Thank you for the help

 

[BWG]

Hot water or boiling hot water?

 

[Missing]

I put the water on the stove right until it started to boil. Should I just boil the wood directly? The water is clear again this morning.

 

[BWG]

Boiling the wood directly is the best option. It's still not a super fast process.

BTW what's wrong with having tannins?

 

[Flear]

i have heard tannis has beneficial effects on planted tank health
-either it was not mentioned what the benefits were, or i wasn't paying attention to this part

there are unsafe woods & safe woods
raw woods that are safe are harder to find

unsafe woods can be made safe though boiling out the toxins
-i have heard this is an extremely stinky process, it takes hours of "cooking" the wood with a lot of water, and multiple water changes during the process till the toxins are gone

woods that are safe, i am pretty sure Malaysian drift wood is one of them (going on a hunch - not hard to look up), are safe without this process.

the only problem i've heard with tanis/tannic acid, is the weak tea color in the water.

if you are after crystal clear water all the time, ... might consider going without wood, unless there is a specific reason it's needed for the health of at least one critter in your tank, ...

otherwise you're going on aesthetics and possibly creating an issue by having wood your familiar with giving the very issue your trying to avoid.

---

sounds like creating your own problem, ... might be an easier way
-either remove the wood
-or stop worrying about aesthetics when the health of that critter should be a priority

Edit:
if you're worried about parasites (like planaria or other) cooking anything you put in the tank (please not rocks) would kill anything after boiling for several hours

 

[Missing]

I just don't want yellowy water, that's all. I don't think wanting clear water means I'm not thinking about the well-being of what's inside my tank. I think it's very reasonable to want both? It happened to be the only wood the only pet store we have here sells. I looked around online and I've read and seen people saying they never had any discoloration so I thought it was alright to shoot for the same goal.

All I wanted to know was since there has been no yellow coloring of the water, was there still a chance it could leak. I'll go ahead and boil it some to be sure but so far I've yet to see the yellow water.

 

[BWG]

It's fine not to want blackwater. Most people don't. Doesn't mean you don't care about the well being of your fish. One of my tanks is a blackwater tank. You can't blame me for trying to convert other people on the forum to the dark side (well tea colored side lol).

I'd give it a boil just in case. It's been my experience that new Malaysian always leaks tannins. Often to the point that multiple boiling, soaks, and water changes are needed. If you boil it for a bit and the water remains clear you'll be good to go.

 

[Flear]

the yellowing is temporary
water changes can keep the yellowing to a barely noticeable

in time the tanis from the drift wood will be gone and there will be no discoloration after

---

onto some guess-work, ... could be the type of wood, ... i am sure some woods have more tanis than others, and i'm sure some will have a negligible effect on water color

as for how long, ... (initial discoloration) BWG said it best "it's not a super fast process"

i'm thinking weeks before it's noticeable, and many months before it tapers off till it has no effect on water color

 

[Chesh]

I agree with BWG - boil the snot out of it, if you can! I always do my best to boil driftwood before adding it to my tank, and am usually surprised at just how dark that water can get!

My understanding is that softer woods, such as Malaysian, will leak more tannins than harder woods, such as Manzanita. All tea-coloring aside, the tannins can have the effect of softening your water, so if you don't want that, it is best for you draw as much out of the wood before putting it into the tank as possible. That aside, boiling can't hurt to 'clean' the wood of any ickies that may be lurking! If you have a water test for gh, kh or ph, I'd advise you to keep an eye on those numbers for a time after you add the wood - just to be sure.

It isn't unusual for there to have been no discoloration. I have limited experience here, but a lot of it depends on what happened to the wood between the time that it fell from the tree and ended up in your home! If it spent some time in the water, or was 'cleaned' in some way before it went out to the shop, it is quite possible that you will never see discoloration from it.

Glad to hear you got your planaria cleared up - blegh! That doesn't sound like it was much fun! I think you're doing the right thing - it's ALWAYS better to be safe than sorry with our tanks - taking the time to do research and ask questions first is much easier than trying to fix a problem after! In the case of driftwood, you should be okay.

Hope this helps somewhat? Happy tanking!

 

[Missing]

Thanks guys. I gave it a long boil and another rinse, the water was clear the entire time. Hoping it won't give me yellow water but my frogs instantly swam over and started exploring it, so I don't have the heart to take it out if it does. I may join your tea side if my rinsing wasn't enough. It did say it was pre-washed so maybe I'll be lucky and avoid it.

Thanks again for the information. I'll do some tests to keep an eye out for any changes. I hope it all works out just for them.

 

[Chesh]

It's beautiful! And that's one happy little froggy! <3

 

[Austin]

Looks nice! Some pieces have more tannins than others. My second purchase turned the water browny orange in a few hours, but my first one only made it yellowish. Even if it leeches some tannins simply do a water change. Eventually it'll leech less and less. If you don't want black water, that's fine.

And I agree that is a cute frog and I like the tank.