Varnish On Wood

[-Jo-]

I have some wood that I put into my aquarium at the start of my fishless cycle, but i had to take it out because of how much it leached into the water. I have been keeping it in water for over 21 days as i am intending on putting it back in when the cycling is complete - but im still a bit worried about how much it may still leach.

I have the book 'freshwater aquariums for dummies' and it says in there that you can varnish your aquarium wood to prevent it from leaching by using a Polyurethane varnish.

Has anyone done this before and has it worked ok? I dont want to be putting anything into the tank that could harm the fish at a later date.

 

[tribalbrit]

I have some wood that I put into my aquarium at the start of my fishless cycle, but i had to take it out because of how much it leached into the water. I have been keeping it in water for over 21 days as i am intending on putting it back in when the cycling is complete - but im still a bit worried about how much it may still leach.

I have the book 'freshwater aquariums for dummies' and it says in there that you can varnish your aquarium wood to prevent it from leaching by using a Polyurethane varnish.

Has anyone done this before and has it worked ok? I dont want to be putting anything into the tank that could harm the fish at a later date.

I did this a few years ago for the same reason. The polyurethane varnish is safe for the fish. BUT if you do not get every little bit of wood, water gets behind the varnish and goes white.. still safe but does not look nice. So unless your wood is very smooth with no little holes that you cant get the varnish into I wouldn't varnish it.
Continue soaking the wood, jet washing may also help.

 

[fluttermoth]

Varnish would also be no good if you have any suckermouth cats, like BNs or otos, as they'd rasp the varnish off and poison themselves

Some carbon in your filter would remove the worst of the tannins.

 

[-Jo-]

I was hoping that when my cyle was complete to house a few corys - so im guessing that varnishing the log would not be the best ideas if i want those kind of fish in the tank.

 

[StandbySetting]

What's so bad about tannins? We as hobbyists are always aspiring to create the most natural environment possible, leave them be, they look cool.

 

[-Jo-]

What's so bad about tannins? We as hobbyists are always aspiring to create the most natural environment possible, leave them be, they look cool.

the tannin that was left in the water was awful - i couldnt leave it. You couldnt see in the tank - it was just brown. I understand making it as natural as you can, but I wanted to be able to see the fish

 

[OldMan47]

There are fish, like plecos, that definitely make good use of wood and cannot do the same thing with varnished wood. For them the answer is easy, don't do it. On the other hand, if you do not keep fish that actually use the wood, sealing it using varnish may make some sense. With that said, you then run into concerns like tribalfish gave where you may not get a good seal. Unless you are sure to get that good seal, I would avoid the attempt.