Two Bogwood Questions

[~firefly~]

Hi everyone. My 115 litre tank finished its cycle bang on time, after two weeks of fishless cycling I now have completely stable readings...and now fish! :19:

In the end I went for 18 cherry barbs and 6 cory cats. They've settled in brilliantly and I'm loving them.

Anyway, to get to the point - I also bought a beautiful, large piece of tangled bogwood. It fills the tank perfectly and looks better than I could have imagined (pics will follow at some point). However, I didn't put the wood through much preparation (like boiling etc.) due to its size (it won't fit in a pot!) so I ran it under hot water in the bath for a while instead. I put it in the tank but it floats like a lilo so I had to weigh it down with two huge rocks (thankfully I had these left over from my old Tang set-up).

So my questions are:

1. How long will it take for the bogwood to stay down without the need for the rocks?

(I don't want to test removing them before the recommended time in case it still floats!)

2. How long will it take for the bogwood to stop leaching tannins into the water?

(After 24 hours it had stained the water pretty nicely, a golden colour, so I did a 30% water change. After 48 hours it was yellow again but not as bad. Again, a 30% water change and it looks fine. I might reduce this to 20% so as not to stress the new fish too much. The only reason why I'm keen to change so much water is for the plants (to help the light reach the bottom!))

:goldfish: Thanks in advance for those who can answer my questions. :fish:

[Cliff]

I had one pc of blogwood that leached out tannins for about 4 weeks (maybe 3)

It can very greatly, but I would expect a few week at least before it would stop

Hard to guess how long it would take to sink. Mine always sank right away

[Lady Hobbs]

Holding it down as you did is perfect. Some of the branchy stuff never really sinks great because it doesn't hold much water. Leeching tannins depends on the wood and if it does leech, it's not a bad thing either. Looks rather neat, I think. But weekly water changes will eventually get rid of tannins.

Can't wait to see your photo. I love branchy wood.

[~firefly~]

Ok thanks, that gives me a guide. I think I'll try lifting the rock after a month (if it doesn't sink by then I'm not sure what I'll do!) :ssuprised:

[~Col~]

If you don't like your current rocks, maybe look for some rocks that will look good in your tank and swap them over.

I just put a bit of gold vine driftwood into one of my tanks and the rock I've used is pretty ugly, I've just hidden it with some plants.

[madagascariensis]

As soon as the wood has become completely waterlogged(as opposed to dry inside), it will sink. That depends a lot on the type of wood though. Some sink right away, others, may never sink. Try drilling small holes into the branches in inconspicuous places, it might help.

[~firefly~]

Did a 10% water change today. The wood seems to be leeching oils too as there's been a bit of a slick on the surface each day. I've been skimming it off. Is this normal with newly introduced wood?

[Zander]

You can help it sink a bit faster by boiling it. You said it was too large to fit into a pot but if it's close you can boil half then turn it over and boil the other half. Change the water each time it turns brown.

I just recently got a 38 inch piece of driftwood from a store. Not sure exactly what kind of wood it is but it looks like Mopani, which is supposed to sink right away. Very disappointed when I got home and it floated. I poured boiling water over it a bunch of times and it's been soaking in the bathtub in warm water for about 24 hours now. Now it sinks! I was very happy about that. I figured it would take at least a week for a piece that size. I'm about to add it to my tank later today.

The hotter the water the better. It will get the tannins out MUCH faster than having it in your tank and it will sink sooner too. Unless you don't mind the tannins. There's nothing really wrong with them. Though it will lower your PH some and your hardness also. If you don't want the tannins then boil it longer.

As for your question, it may continue to leak tannins for weeks to years, depending on the type of wood.

[~firefly~]

Thanks.

I don't mind the tannins at all actually. thumbs2: It's already leeching out less and it's only been four days. I'm not sure I want to take it out and boil it in parts at this stage (I literally don't have anything I can boil even parts of it in...I'd probably be able to cover about three inches of it so it's not worth the effort).

I will leave it under the big rocks for a month and see if it has become waterlogged. Fingers crossed!

:fish:

Does anyone know if oil (film on the surface) can also be the result of bogwood leeching? It's certainly a yellowy coloured oil.

:goldfish:

[ldoerr]

A way that you could boil it is to put it in a cooler and then add boiling water to the cooler. (we cook corn on the cob that way, my parents say that it turns out great). All that you need to do it put the DW in a cooler, boil as much water as posible, add the water to the cooler, close the lid, wait for a while.

[~firefly~]

The wood seems like it's staying down now but I'm going to leave the rock on for a few more weeks to be sure. thumbs2:

I did a big journal entry tonight showing the history of my little tank. Near the end is a shot of the bogwood and new set-up if anyone wants a look:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=93170

:goldfish: :fish: