Soaking wood...

[Rue]

I just caved, and bought 4 pieces of Malaysian driftwood for my 4 tanks...I can't believe I payed for decaying wood...

I'm not up to boiling the wood...so I'm soaking it...how long do I have to soak it before it stops leaching tannins into the water?

And does anyone know how long Java Fern can live just floating around in the tank...it's been 5 days already...

[cocoa_pleco]

my java fern has always been floating with 0 problems. With my driftwood, i just soak it in hot water, and change the water frequently. It takes me about 2 days. My maylasian wood didnt leach anything even though i never boiled /washed it

[xoolooxunny]

I just caved, and bought 4 pieces of Malaysian driftwood for my 4 tanks...I can't believe I payed for decaying wood...

I'm not up to boiling the wood...so I'm soaking it...how long do I have to soak it before it stops leaching tannins into the water?

And does anyone know how long Java Fern can live just floating around in the tank...it's been 5 days already...

The java fern will live for a real long while, they most of their nutrients from the water column, if not all. It will be fine while you wait for the driftwood...and speaking of which, I'm not sure just soaking it will do the trick, and if it does I imagine it is going to take a long forever, but we'll both find out for sure when someone more knowledgeable comes along...

[Chrona]

Removing tannins via soaking can take a few weeks. Boiling, obviously, is much faster. You could always run carbon for a few weeks while it's still leeching tannins.

[Incredulous_Ed]

Boiling is the fastest option, besides adding carbon to the filter.

[Rue]

I love you guys! You know everything...

...speaking of which...

...if I boil...how long do I boil for?

[cocoa_pleco]

what i did is boil for a few minutes, then stick it in a bowl of cold water, then boil again, and put it in new cold water, and repeat until the cold water is clear

[Rue]

Oh boy! Sounds like cooking!

I'll see how much time I can find this weekend...I can try that too...thanks!

[Lady Hobbs]

The malaysian I bought just went in the tank without soaking. I figured it had already been processed to some degree so just put it in the tank. It took about a month for the tannins to disappear with my water changes but I didn't find it ugly to look at. Just darker water.