driftwood

Hi How long must I soak driftwood before ready to be placed in tank.I had a piece I bought five years ago at a ifs.So it is dry.I have put it in boiling water with bicarb of soda and replaced the boiling water four times.The water is still coloured when i change it.Any advise will be appreciated.I do not want to put it in the water to quickley.It will go in the tank with my brislenose catfish and planning to put some plants in as well.What plants will go with the bristlenose.:cheesy:

 

Do some searches on the forum, we have discussed this all before.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

How about providing us with links too these discussions Dirk? Searching this forum is rather daunting for newbies like us.

 

The bad news is that it could take 6 months before it stops discolouring the water. Soak it for as long as it takes to stop it floating - it really depends on the type of wood as to how long it will take to get wet enough to let it sink. Unfortunately there is no short-cut.

 

At the top of every TASA screen is a search text box. Type in a few key words and scroll through the answers. Works very similar to most search engines... except this search engine only looks through TASA database.

 

Hi Infected Mushroom,

In your profile you indicate to us that you are an IT specialist. For someone with that qualification, a search function is a piece of cake, so just use it.

Then you seem to repeatedly indicate to us that government and others have to educate you and the general public, and here we go again, you just want it on a plate.



Just do as everyone else that wants to learn on this forum does and that is to browse through the threads. Is that so difficult?

Dirk

 

Thank's Zoom I already tried the search function and used the term "driftwood" problem is it only does a keyword search so every thread that contains the word driftwood comes up so there is 20 pages of driftwood.

Or am I doing something wrong?

 

I find your attitude rather disturbing and counter productive to newbies in the hobby like myself. If every new person to this forum gets attacked in a manner each time he asks a question then I would leave this forum immediately and never ask for help again.

I just asked a simple question because I also want to add some driftwood to my setup so since someone else already created a thread for this I decided to ask as well as my searches have turned up nothing for me. I do not understand this hostility for just asking a question.

Kind regards.

 

No Infected Mushroom,

You do not ask questions, you make statements with a sting in them, and this is happening time and time again. It has nothing to do with newbies, you just seem to have an attitude problem.

Sorry for the thread highjack here blueskipjack.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

This thread has gone completely ot.

I did a test search using the word 'driftwood' and found masses of info, including on the first page the following :

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?14231&p=191484#post191484

 

Thank you tracyp that thread will help me load. I apologies for missing the thread in using the search function I must have missed it somehow.

 

Thanks for the info.You are always helpful.I bought my driftwood five years ago and it was dry and it is heavy for it size.I do not think it will float but want to make sure it is clean with no germs that might be harmful for the fish.

 

Thanks @tracyp for the link

 

Hi Blueskipjack,

If you go back in the threads you will see that what is sold as driftwood, is often actually not driftwood at all, but mopani from northern Namibia. So it has not been in water in a river before and releases loads of tannins and it does this for a longer period of time and also, as you have explained, even after having used it in an aquarium, then taken it out and then putting it back in your tank again. It should actually not even be called driftwood, because driftwood means it has come from water, which is not the case here. What you need to be particularly careful of though is to check for soft spots on this wood as this indicates rot, and this will be negative for your fishes.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thanks for the reply.My piece of wood is light brown on top and darkbrown nearly black at the bottom.There is no rotting pieces on it and I have scrubbed and washed as well as putting bicarb in the water as well.I started with the whole prosess yesterday and put the last kleen water over it at five this afternoon.It is not floating in the water and so far it look of there is no more colouring coming of it.

 

It sounds like it is mopani, but it also sounds as though it is ok, so you can go ahead and it put it in your aquarium.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

What does the bicarb do in the soaking process? I've never heard of using it before and I have 3 pieces of mopani soaking right now.

 

tracy i agree, but Dirk if i may give my two cents worth you did jump the gun a bit with the hostility.

 

In my opinion , prof dirk gave good and solid advise as he always does , and I would personally take profs advise over most on any forum any time . Yes there at times when the interpretation is lost but the message is always true when you sit back and look at it .

 

Hi The bicarb will help to neutralize acid and help sterilize the driftwood.