The First Of (probably) Many Posts

[hedgehog]

Greetings one and all.

I'm a newbie to the whole tropical fish keeping world, I thought I'd post my first of what will probably be many questions.

I've just set up a shiny new 50 gal Aqua One tank. The sand is washed and nicely laid out, rocks have been placed and 10 (assorted) plants have been planted. The fishless cycle starts tomorrow, once I get hold of some ammonia.

I've also got a couple of lumps of bogwood which having researched on here I've decided to soak, so they don't turn my water brown.

My question is where's the best place to soak them? One of them is too big for a typical bucket (it's an odd shape). For now I've left it inside the water butt in our garden, is this OK? Or do I need to keep putting it in fresh water?

Thanks!

 

[wally6346]

Greetings one and all.

I'm a newbie to the whole tropical fish keeping world, I thought I'd post my first of what will probably be many questions.

I've just set up a shiny new 50 gal Aqua One tank. The sand is washed and nicely laid out, rocks have been placed and 10 (assorted) plants have been planted. The fishless cycle starts tomorrow, once I get hold of some ammonia.

I've also got a couple of lumps of bogwood which having researched on here I've decided to soak, so they don't turn my water brown.

My question is where's the best place to soak them? One of them is too big for a typical bucket (it's an odd shape). For now I've left it inside the water butt in our garden, is this OK? Or do I need to keep putting it in fresh water?

Thanks!

what about a bath?!

 

[*Fishkies*]

Well once you see that water getting dirty. You will need to change the water until all the tannins and dirt are cleaned off as well as they can be. If you have any extra plastic garbage cans that you could fill half way or so and drop all the pieces in that would also work.

 

[Chuka1212]

My experience with bogwood is that it will leach tannins into the water for a VERY VERY long time. I had soaked my mopani bogwood for weeks, stuck it in the tank and BAM! yellowish water in a matter of days. After months I still have tannins, but I suppose it is more natural for my setup ( I have an Amazon type tank) so it is OK. About your soaking problem, I used a big plastic storage container that I bought at Wal-Mart to soak my pieces. Old trash cans work too.

 

[iairj84]

I use a big disposible turkey cooking tray and boil the wood. It can be kind of difficult with big pieces but It gets the majority of the tannins out of the wood. I've only seen light color changes in my water and they only last for 1 or 2 water changes.

 

[Jozlyn]

I have to agree with iairj84 boiling is the easiest and quickest way to get rid of the tanins. But having said that if it's too big to fit in a pot and you can't build a nice hot fire outside anywhere, try using hot water (from your kettle) in a bin, bucket or bath. If you use your bath, it'll be easier to change the water and you can change it more often. Luckily for me mine fit into a nice big pot. Perhaps you could boil half of it at a time in a pot by turining it around. I only had to boil and change the water about 5 times before the tanins stopped leaching out.