# how long to boil



## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hay guys,
if i were to boil my wood,how long do you think
i would need to do it for.
thanks.


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## beunme (Dec 29, 2007)

*boilin wood*

i didnt boil wood i DID boil sum gravel,,2 five galon buckets worth..seen on the net to boil it for a hour..we made stone soup most of the night lol,,,the gravel stunk in the tank turned the water brown and really foul odor..after boiling it it seems fine..got it in 2 tanks now and all ok they been up n runnin awhile now..boiled all the decorations while i was at it.hope this helps ya


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

willow said:


> hay guys,
> if i were to boil my wood,how long do you think
> i would need to do it for.
> thanks.


Boil it until the water turns to tea. Change the water. Boil it some more. Repeat until the water gets apple juice color at the darkest.

(Course, the last driftwood I used was big enough I would have had to boil it in a bathtub, so I just threw it in the well before the fish and let it leach through a couple of water changes.)


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

thanks,
its just that i'm a bit fed up with the tanned look now,
short of that i guess the other option is to remove it,there are not plecos
in there it's just for decoration.


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## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

Last time I got some new bogwood I boiled it for fifteen minutes every day for a week, and each night before going to bed I put it in a fresh bucket of boiling water.

When I added it to the tank it still leeched a bit, but nothing too bad.


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I did the same as Tophat on my first piece of wood. It was small enough to fit in a large pot to boil on the stove.

I am currently soaking a second piece for my 10 gallon but it is too big to boil. I have it soaking it in a 5 gallon bucket of the hottest water I can get. When the water gets cool I pour it out and refill with hot water again and let it soak, rinse and repeat.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

cheers guys,
tomorrow is another day,so maybe a little re-aquascape.
i don't want this tank to go back to the tank of doom,
so i don't want to fiddle too much.


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## MKSII (Dec 25, 2007)

My pieces are too big to be boiled, so I have them soaking in a giant tote in the garage. For the first couple days I just changed the water. It's been in there for a good week now and it might have a slight tint to it, but nothing major. Three pieces in there too.

My other 2 pieces in my 75 I did the same thing and it never has changed the color of the aquarium water.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

thanks.


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

I have large pieces of driftwood from S. America in my pleco tank. You'd think 125g over 4 years would do it. Nope. You'll always get tannins. Just run carbon in your filters. It will do a good job of keeping the water clearer until the next water change. I do 100g water change once a month to rid myself of the yellowed look. I don't mind it much as it's a lot more natural in the wild for the water to be dark (for these fish) than clear.


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