Wood leaching

Hey. yesterday i took some pieces of mopane wood we had lying around to put in my tank. i know that it turns the water yellow so I put it in warm water for a day . changing the water about every hour until the water did not turn yellow any more. obviously this wasn't enough as my tanks are both yellow now from the wood i put in last night. I know its not harmful but is there anyway i can clear the water up again. Yellow water doesn't really look to nice.

 

Hi, Some guys use purigen in then filter which usually works.. I'd just soak the wood for a longer period or if you have large pot you can boil the wood this will speed up the leeching process. Regards

 

try purigen, did wonders on my tank when i first put my mopani in, also removes amonia...

 

The purigen will work, but just remember that it will also remove the beneficial tannins from the water. If you are keeping blackwater fish, the tannins make them feel more comfortable.

 

Purigen worked wonders for me... for about 3 months. THereafter the Purigen was so "damaged" and I couldn't recharge it anymore.

But yes... it did work amazingly!

 

Hey. does anyone know the price of purigen at other shops coz its 220 for a small bottle at my LFS and thats allot

 

Hi Franna
I would safe the money, as "Tom" said it looses after a while its effectivness and as soon as you stop the water will turn yellow/ black again.
most south americans love the slighty discoloured water and i found after a while your tank looks funny if not yellow:bigsmile:

 

just wanna update. i Got me the smaller Purigen and ive never seen my tank this clear before lol. it really did a good job. i did 2 of my tanks. but i can also see the one tanks driftwood is still leaching a bit. its been in there for about 2 weeks now

 

I also like the slight tea colour it gives the water actually makes it look more authentic, however if you have large pieces, it could get over done, soak the wood for a week or so and can the water regularly so that it gets most of the colour out.

 

I had some wood in my aquarium, two big pieces and I eventually took them out cuz the water kept goin brown no matter how frequently i did water changes. So u reckon if I soak them in a bucket for a week or two it might help? I have currently taken apart my planted 100litre tank and would really like to put the wood back in. Was thinking of getting some dwarf cichlids and heard they liked hiding places. Also wat is this purigen stuff u guys talking about?

 

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Purigen.html
Great product and its reusable.

 

Best way to prepare wood:

1. Rinse thoroughly with pressure hose and scrub lose pieces away with hard brush
2. Place in bucket and soak in hot water. As hot as possible.
3. Change water daily.
4. After 2 weeks, scrub again to remove rotting and lose pieces
5. Continue this process for 1 month
6. The wood may still leach some tannins, but if you don't like it then add Seachem Purigen to the filter.

If the wood fits a pot, then boil for a couple of hours first. This will sterilize and also get rid of a lot of the tannins very quickly

 

Thanx

 

i got my mopani piece in august, leached alot, so i got purigen which worked its charm effectively, recharged once so far, its out and bagged now (remember if you take it out ziplock it as seachem says the beads can crack when drying out again, which will deter them from regenerating

now i only get very very slight yellowing, which goes away after the weekly small water change. so its been about 3 months before a completely untreated, unboiled mopani root went into the tank, and the effect has now almost worn off, it takes some time.

I have some small veld picked pieces in my desk planted foot tank, that perpetually leaches and probably wont ever stop, and that is also taken care of with a weekly water change