[450Rider]

I put in a new piece of driftwood into my tank on Saturday. Before adding it in, I rinsed it off, let it soak in a bucket of water and re-did the process 3-4 times making sure it was clean. I come home today and I noticed that my water is now a yellowish tint. I really don't want to get rid of the driftwood because it looks really nice but then at the same time I don't like the water color. I'm running a Rena XP3 and an Aquaclear 70. Any tips on solving this issue?

 

[killakam]

im having the same issue, i took out my drift wood and its starting to look clearer, bleach it and then boil it!!

 

[prov356]

Boiling it will remove the tanins more quickly. If that's not possible, you can run something like Purigen in your XP3 that should help to remove the color from the water.

 

[450Rider]

If I boil it, how long should I keep it in for?

 

[PfunMo]

This is a pretty common problem when first choosing wood. It takes a really totally dry piece of wood to not have some moisture (sap) left in it. You don't say where or what this wood is but it has sap left which may color the water for a long time depending on how big and wet it is. One really big advantage of going with true driftwood is that it gets wet and dried over sometimes years and the sap is removed naturally. For those times when I have run into wet wood and wanted to use it anyway, I find running carbon in my filters and changing it often is the only thing that has helped me.

 

[prov356]

If I boil it, how long should I keep it in for?

Depends on the wood, but it'll take some time. You may have to drain it off a boil it a few times. You'll see the water turn a dark tea color. I'd go maybe 45 minutes or so. Repeat until the water doesn't turn dark very quikly. Then try it in the tank again.

I'm assuming this is a piece of store bought, made for aquariums driftwood. Not all wood picked up outdoors is necessarily safe to use at all.

 

[450Rider]

I'm assuming this is a piece of store bought, made for aquariums driftwood. Not all wood picked up outdoors is necessarily safe to use at all.

That is correct.
I'll try the boiling process today. Luckily I have a big enough pot to put it in. I'll also try adding Purigen as stated before.

Thanks

 

[DIYhunter]

Put it in the dishwasher & run it through 3 to 10 rotations (no soap), skip the dry cycle. This is not a joke & it works better than one might think.

Boiling works, but it's not a question of how long but how many times you'll have to restart the the process. After boiling deer skulls for mounting & driftwood over the years, the process is about the same. Boil, rinse, empty pot, refill, boil, rinse, empty pot & repeat as necessary.