# Large driftwood pieces



## iceprizm (Aug 7, 2008)

I am looking for some large pieces of driftwood for my 180G tank. I have read that boiling will help eliminate the tannins from leaching into the tank. I was wondering if anyone sold driftwood already boiled, or how others get rid of the tannins from large pieces, i myself dont have a vessel big enough.


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

I can find stores that sell DW soaked (meaning its been hanging in their tanks for a while) this generally leaks out less then the 'dry' one's you'd find.
That however dep on what you have available locally (or not like in my case).

If you can't find pre-soaked; just biol it 3-4 times and it'll do fine; i may leach a tiny bit back into the tank but not enough for you to see on a 180G. If the piece is too big for ay put; just lay it in to your tub and turn the water on hot hot and leave it there for few days (while exchanging the water every day).


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## JohnnyD44 (Dec 5, 2008)

+1

when i had my two taller pieces....i bought a crab pot....its huge...i just flipped the piece every so often to make sure all of the dritftwood was boiled...

i also heard you can bake it too.....i boiled mine as angel described and let it sit overnight....it always looked worse still sitting in the bucket...but it was a 5G bucket....when it went in my tank, you can't tell at all....because that amount of tannins was dispersed over 55G instead of a bucket which made it look more concentrated...


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## Kelso (Oct 28, 2009)

Unless the leaching bothers you, it's quite alright to let it the tannins soak into the water. And unless you get a lot of wood, in a 180 gallon, your pH shouldn't drop more than .1-.2.


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## lennyboy222 (Jan 13, 2010)

Tannins are actually beneficial to your tank. Especially soft and acidic loving fish. No matter what if you soak them, they will leach tannin. Just be patient because eventually it will stop leaching tannin and the tea colored water will turn clear.

I have a tank with driftwood and now the water is crystal clear. Just wait for the tannin to stop leaching from the wood.


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## Mean Harri (Dec 14, 2009)

I bought a very large piece of dw and have been soaking it all week. I change the water daily and use a tap water conditioner. And honestly, after the first 24 hours the staining of the 14g container that it's in is minimal. I did not boil it either. The water gets a slight orangish tea color but it's not bad. Plus it's a small container. In a large aquarium it won't be anywhere near as bad. I like the effect personally.


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## wannabe (Feb 6, 2010)

Well I have a question to add to this, is this tannins for ALL wood, because I have birch set up in my 10 gallon without water will it tannins? I agree with the above responses as well it makes sense.


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## iceprizm (Aug 7, 2008)

as far as i know all wood will leech. 

i had a large piece once, i had it soaking in my bathtub for 4 weeks. it leeched so badly i could not see the bottom of the tub. i did WCs every other day and it never got better. i ended up selling the wood to someone else.
i found a website that sells driftwood they have already soaked, so ill try that.


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## Mean Harri (Dec 14, 2009)

I read a post somewhere where Byron wrote of this. I don't know first hand but for my Mopani (lighter wood). The lighter wood will leech more than the darker woods. Why? I don't know. You would think it would be the other way around.


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## Ulyaoth (Jan 9, 2010)

Random offtopic question, are there any woods you just shouldn't use in a tank? I always have random hunks of wood I cut off our trees or that fall off, would those be alright to put in or should only certain types go in? We don't use pesticides or anything if that matters.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Well, depending on the chemistry of the wood and its density, it may or may not just rot and fall apart in your tank. Commercially available driftwoods tend to sink (which most wood won't without being waterlogged), take forever to rot underwater, have cool shapes and are safe for aquarium use. 

If you're sure that you can find wood that's safe to use in your tank (which might be a bit of a gamble) I'd make sure it's dense enough to sink or at least waterlog easily.


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