# Bleeding Driftwood



## SUCOFTVS (Oct 27, 2010)

I just got a new piece of drift wood from my LFS and its my first piece so I'm kinda concerned. I know it is very hard to stop some drift woods from bleeding and I understand that, but will the bleeding harm my Cichlids because of there like for high pH levels? I believe it is a soft drift wood and its rather redish in Color, and I only know that it came from a guy in Texas(Me being in MI). Is there any additives or procedures I should take when first submerging the wood? My fish are new to Natural Decoration and so am I!


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

What kind of cichlids are you keeping? I would recommend you soak it in a container (other than the aquarium) for at least a week or so, changing the water out daily.


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## SUCOFTVS (Oct 27, 2010)

greshakei and the other is a offspring of a yellow lab and greshakei they are both about 4" long and have been in the tank for awhile. I was gonna soak the driftwood for a while in some water but wasn't sure what to do after the presoak, is there any precautions I should take with the water in the tank.


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## Sub-Mariner (Dec 7, 2011)

Depends on the buffering capability of your water. If its not high then the tannins will lower your pH...its high then your pH will be stable even with tannins.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I'm sorry but it sounds like you have run into one of the follies of our hobby. There are times when people take advantage of the situation to sell a product they should not. Wood is a very simple item but it can also be very tricky to get the right wood. Unfortunately buying from a dealer does not guarantee the product will be good. If the wood you have was not carefully chosen, soaking for weeks or even months may not clear the tannins. The tannins are locked up within the cells inside the wood and will not stop until these cells break down. One soft wood with a reddish color that grows rampantly in Texas is cedar. This is all a lot of guesswork so , Beg pardon if I am wrong. 
One way to check for cedar is to cut a bit off. If there is a spot which will not show, I would cut into it and check for odor. Drilling a 1/4 inch hole would work even better as it gets deeper into the wood. If it is cedar and it is bleeding tannins, it may be a bad piece of wood as cedar is a semi-famous for holding the oils which keep it from rotting.


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## SUCOFTVS (Oct 27, 2010)

PfunMo said:


> If there is a spot which will not show, I would cut into it and check for odor.
> 
> After I read this I went home and did just that, Didn't smell like cedar to me. I let the piece soak in water all night and it seemed like the water was clear this morning as well. Is the bleeding process a slow one in which I may not see for awhile, or will it happen right away?


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## ph1sh3r (Jan 20, 2012)

I boil mine if it fits in a pot, boil the heck out of it and you will see how dark the water gets. I also use purigen in one of my filters to remove the tannins. my rockwork is all dolomite and limestone and sand is aragonite, i add malawi salts with buffer at water changes. pH is stable in my tank.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

> Is the bleeding process a slow one in which I may not see for awhile, or will it happen right away?


Definitely yes. It can be a slow process for sure. It depends on how the wood has dried. If it is a thick piece there may be two inches on the outer side which have dried totally with two inches of inner wood that still have sap (and tannins) left. When I collect thicker pieces, I like to cut through the diameter of the piece to look at the way it has dried before dragging it home. If there is an obvious difference in the inner and outer wood, I suspect it is not done drying.

Cedar is a good wood in some ways as it does resist rotting due to the oils. But then those same oils can give major trouble in the tank if they are still there. I collect quite a bit of cedar but still can't tell for sure how wet the inside will be. When I get a piece that is just too good to pass up, I take it home and do some work on it, hoping for a good result.

When I cut it open, I look at the end for a generally uniform color from the surface to the middle. Knots and other spots in the wood do dry slower and may have some color difference.

This is a big cedar log that I took home and got lucky with the choice. For the person I made this for, I wanted to make room for fish as well be sure it would not stain the tank. When I chain sawed out the interior and found uniform color with little cedar smell, I felt safe.

Top side








Bottom









From the location where high water had left it, I am guessing it had been dead for a long time and carried by high water six years before so the wood had been dead for 15-20 years. Drying is SLOOOOOW !


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## SUCOFTVS (Oct 27, 2010)

Well I went ahead and called my LFS and the people there told me that it was Exotic Drift Wood from Malaysia. Does this help out my situation?


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

For me, it would not make much change. Exotic driftwood is a pretty general term. What is exotic? In Michigan, many cactus might be considered exotic whereas I tend to think of them as a bit of a nuisance! 
It may be a totally usable item. My concerns about it being cedar may be totally out of line. That is where the term exotic may come into play. I'm certain there are many reddish colored woods that I have never seen and those might be termed exotic. Sorry. I can't help beyond that. My guesses are not very precise!


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## SUCOFTVS (Oct 27, 2010)

PfunMo said:


> What is exotic? In Michigan, many cactus might be considered exotic whereas I tend to think of them as a bit of a nuisance!


Very True! Never thought of it that way



PfunMo said:


> Sorry. I can't help beyond that. My guesses are not very precise!


No need to be sorry lol, The more general information I can get about drift wood the better! :thumb:


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## cgmark (Aug 18, 2010)

I tried driftwood and it was the worst mistake I made in a long time. The wood looked great but it slowly leeched tannin into the water and eventually stained anything it came into contact with. I had to bleach lots of my decorations that were white before to get them back to normal.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Tannins are an item to try to avoid. There is a connection between the name "tannin" and tanning as in tanning leather. Yes, tannins will tan things.


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## SUCOFTVS (Oct 27, 2010)

Well *** had the piece in over night and no color changes, YET. I've heard there is something you can get to take the color out that sits in the tank in some sort of bag or pouch?


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## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

SUCOFTVS said:


> Well I've had the piece in over night and no color changes, YET. I've heard there is something you can get to take the color out that sits in the tank in some sort of bag or pouch?


Purigen by Seachem comes in the little bags and can be recharged. LFS said they work great, but 2 bags at $9.99 each for a 180gal did absolutely nothing to remove the "tea" from our water!! We went back to good old fashioned Fluval black carbon to get it cleaned up - its finally starting to clear it up weeks later. :roll:

Tannins are a huge pain no matter how you look at it. (IMO) :wink:


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I will fully agree with tannins being a major pain. I collect and sell/give away or swap a lot of wood so I hope I can pick it carefully to avoid tannins. But then I am never sure so I have a full time setup for soaking. I put a piece in and weight it down and wait like a month to see what happens. If no trouble shows, I then can go to work on the wood knowing it is okay. I hate to waste time setting wood up to be used and then finding out it colors the water. Avoiding tannins is a major part of the game. The wood and rocks are free and I enjoy finding them. The work of fitting them with rock or weight is fun, too. The tannins are the bummer.


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