driftwood

[boydie]

can anyone tell me how long i should soak driftwood before adding to a tank with fish in it.the wood has not seen water for a long time.
cheers boydie.

[ILLUSN]

i soak mine outdoors in a big tub for a week or 2

[Merrilyn]

Ideally you want to soak it till it sinks, before you put it in your tank. Depending on the density of the wood, that could take up to a month.

If you want to remove the tannins from the wood, you'd need to do several water changes during that time, till the water remains clear. Colour will leech out of the wood for several months, but your discus will love it :P

[boydie]

thanks for the info.what about my brislenose cats how will they handle it?
many cheers boydie.

[scott bowler]

yeah boydie they will be fine too mate all good

[Merrilyn]

Catfish actually need wood in their diet.

Strange as it sounds, just about all catfish eat wood, so it should be in the tank any time you have catfish in there.

[dwilder]

if the wood is small enough or you have a pot big enough boil it for 15 minutes and that will help release the tannins

[Professor_J]

If it needs help sinking or you're just a bit impatient :) you can drill a couple holes in it (in hidden areas of course) and attach it to a piece of acrylic sheet with some zip ties. Then put big rocks on the acrylic to hold the whole thing down.

[boydie]

im going to use more of this stuff.
thanks for the comments.
cheers boydie.

[boydie]

is there such a thing as too much tannine??????