Bogwood mess!!!

[rcl]

I bought a large piece of bogwood (mangrove root) at my LFS and was assured that it wouldn't leech a lot of tanins into my water. I didn't believe the guy but I got it anyway and soaked it in my bathtub in still water for several days (where it soaked brown into the water for days, leaving a 'gunky looking' ring around the tub). Finally the water ran clear after a night's soaking, so I put it into my tank. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, since this would be a HUGE DISASTER if it happened after I put fish in), the fast moving water in my tank has caused more tanins to be released!! My tank becomes more tea-looking every day, and is very dark. I know i'm going to have to do a complete water change to get this out, which i'm okay with, but I want to know how long it's going to go on for? Soon my water will be so dark that I wo'nt be able to tell if more tanins are released or not... I suppose it has been about a week so far, is this a process that takes like a couple weeks or like months? Also, fungus is already growing on the bogwood.. and I don't think fish will be in a tank with it until maybe 2-3 weeks from now.. should this be a concern?

Confused,
Robert

 

[ste2k3]

tanin out of wood will not harm fish, it is actually quite good but if it gets really dark you may be better doing a few water changes. If tha tank is empty now, i'd do a 50% waterchange and see how it looks after that. it could pour out tanin for over a year so just keep up with water changes and it should be fine.

ste

 

[thecichlidaddict]

The fungus is also normal and will not harm the fish, and it will stop growing after a while.

 

[rcl]

Thanks for the information guys, I guess I'll just pull a 100% change before I put fish in and then keep up with a 20% biweekly perhaps.

Robert

 

[nightlife20]

if u have carbon in ur filter iv been told that can also help to remove it... 2-3 big water changfes spread over 2-4 weeks will help it... i didnt soak mine i just gave it a good scrub an it hasnt leached into my tank yet... or it could have an my two lots of carbon has got rid?? hmmmm