Bogwood

[greenscooby]

I've just bought myself some bogwood for my tank, i know i have to soak it, but my question is for how long, i bought it today and have been soaking it in boiling water, whenever i change the water i scrub the wood and the water is now getting REALLY clear, is there a minimum amount of time i should soak it?

Any advice would be appreciated,

Many thanks,

Scooby.

PS i meant pLant not pant section, SORRY

 

[rabbut]

I would let it soak overnight. When it can be left that long without discolouring the water, it's good for the tank. This is assuming you want to avoid the brown tinge to the water that many fish and plants may actually like

 

[OldMan47]

You boil it once for a few minutes to kill off anything in the wood that might contaminate the tank. After that all soakings and boilings are an attempt to have the wood soak up water so that it sinks. If your wood is sinking in water, it has enough water in it. The other reason to boil is to reduce water staining from tannins, if you are happy with the water color, that is also finished. Only that very short first boil might be needed and that is really only needed if the wood comes from a source you suspect might be contaminated with organic matter. All others are for aesthetics and are really up to you and your personal tastes.
I attach slate to make my wood sink so I don't worry about the wood sinking, my wood usually gets a quick rinse and a scrub with a scrub brush then it goes right into the tank.

 

[Tezma]

i was told if you like tea colour in your tank, witch gives a more natural enviroment boil it for 15-20 mins, if its to big put in a big bucket of water for a week.

 

[OldMan47]

Most of what you read is what someone likes for their own tastes Tezma. That is why I preface my statements the way I do. There are lots of options depending on what you are trying to accomplish. I usually just want an ornament, don't care about staining the water and am willing to use a piece of slate to sink the wood. That makes my treatment very easy but not what others would choose.

 

[waterdrop]

If you soak it with the pants it might get more yellow rather than less

If you soak it with the pants it might get more yellow rather than less

 

[waterdrop]

If you soak it with the pants it might get more yellow rather than less

I agree with OM47. The amount of time people spend pouring boiling water and soaking wood varies all over the place with different individuals, from hours to a whole week or more. As OM47 says, the only "required" part is that first short boiling.

The 3 separate problems people are addressing are:
1) The fungus and various other odd stuff that will grow on the wood (this varies a lot.)
2) The yellow tannins, a lot of which can go out with the soaking, but if they are still bad later you can remove some with some sessions of charcoal in your filter.
3) Whether or not the particular piece of wood sinks.
(heck, all 3 vary a lot!)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lyotim88]

did you buy it as "presoaked"? if so i only had to soak mine for a couple of hours and it didn't affect the water color one bit

 

[helterskelter]

Wood can also leach tannins for up to a year in bad cases.
Other just a few days till it's all gone.

If you dont like the colour od the water then you have to do more water changes to remove them.

Yet again you only need to boil it for 20-30 mins to kill any bugs on the wood.
If it floats then soak it untill it sinks in a bucket.

 

[greenscooby]

Many thanks for all the advice, i bought my wood from my LFS and they said that the only treatment it had was sandblasting, they advised putting into a dishwaher to wash the tannins out, but i haven't got one so i've been soaking it in a bucket of boiling water, cahnging the water about 3 or 4 times a day.

 

[Darkstar]

I personally see no need to boil it ever, a quick brush under a running tap to remove any loose dirt and in it goes...boiling isn't 'required' as some seem to think imo.

 

[doresy]

I personally see no need to boil it ever, a quick brush under a running tap to remove any loose dirt and in it goes...boiling isn't 'required' as some seem to think imo.

Sounds like a student washing his pants

 

[vinylman]

Whenever I added a piece of Bogwood to the tank, I used to buy it on my way to work on a night shift, then soak it in the sink for the twelve hours I'm here, then put it in the tank when I got home and discolouration was never a problem. The first piece I bought, though, I just gave a quick rinse then put it in the tank. It certainly leeched some colour into the tank, but I liked the effect. As long as you can see your fishy friends, I can't see why anyone wouldn't like it.