Bogwood

[michellebradford]

quick question how long do you have to soak bog wood for so it doesnt turn the water yellow/brown, ive been soaking it for about a week at the moment.

Someone mentioned you can boil it ???

 

[fishbone]

You can boil it if you have a pan big enough! I soaked mine in a bucket by puring boing water over it, replacing the boiling water as it cooled. did this on and off over three or four days and haven't had any seepage since the woods been in the tank.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Soaking it boiling it will just remove the worst phase of the tannins leaking out, but depending on the size of the wood it could leak out tannins for many months. I've had my 3ft peices since october and they are still leaking out tannins- however i don't worry about it as tannins are actually beneficial to a lot of catfish and i think the darker colour water can actually look very nice.

 

[michellebradford]

so it would be ok for my bristle nose

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

so it would be ok for my bristle nose

Yep, tannins are good for pleco's as they have certain anti bacterial (or antibiotic- can't remember which one at the mo) qualities to them

 

[Puffdaddy]

If your set on having no tannins in your tank water. You can seal it.

Make sure the wood is dry all the way through(you don't want it rotting from the inside out).
Then seal it with Polyurethane varnish paint (not yacht varnish, bad for fish). Use a few coats with drying in between.

Here is a more in depth article that will help you.
Bogwood

 

[JackoUK]

I have had varied success with bogwood and murky water. The first piece I bought for my community tank was a pre-soaked piece sealed in a bag and to be fair to the LFS it didn't leak any dye into the water at all. Then my second piece which I soaked for a weak in freshly topped up boiled water leaked dyes into the tank for a good month or so. Today I bought a small piece for my Pygmy Puffer tank, soaked for an hour, rinsed throughly and haven't seen any murky water yet. I personally think a lot of it depends on the piece of wood itself.

 

[LisaLQ]

If your set on having no tannins in your tank water. You can seal it.

Make sure the wood is dry all the way through(you don't want it rotting from the inside out).
Then seal it with Polyurethane varnish paint (not yacht varnish, bad for fish). Use a few coats with drying in between.

Here is a more in depth article that will help you.
Bogwood

Didn't know you could do that (saved for future reading), but wouldn't that be dangerous for the bristlenose (who will no doubt eat the bogwood and get a big gobful of varnish)?

 

[fish_fingers]

You can boil it if you have a pan big enough! I soaked mine in a bucket by puring boing water over it, replacing the boiling water as it cooled. did this on and off over three or four days and haven't had any seepage since the woods been in the tank.

Thanks for this advice. I bought some bogwood a week and a half ago and was worried I'd have to keep soaking it for a month, but this method worked really well. After a week of doing this method with the boiling water in the bucket, the wood has now gone in my tank and so far it's fine.

 

[Darkstar]

If your set on having no tannins in your tank water. You can seal it.

Make sure the wood is dry all the way through(you don't want it rotting from the inside out).
Then seal it with Polyurethane varnish paint (not yacht varnish, bad for fish). Use a few coats with drying in between.

Here is a more in depth article that will help you.
Bogwood

Didn't know you could do that (saved for future reading), but wouldn't that be dangerous for the bristlenose (who will no doubt eat the bogwood and get a big gobful of varnish)?

I was aware it could be done but I really wouldn't suggest doing it with plecs...

 

[kinmad4it]

Is it possible to cut bogwood in half and use it? I've noticed that the bogwood pieces I've seen at all my LFS's are quite large. I'm wanting to have a few BN's for my tank and know they can become territorial over what they consider their bit of wood. But with the large pieces there isn't room for more than one bit of bogwood.