Re: Bog wood

[plasticolor@guate.net]

>Anyway, I have had the tank set up for almost a month (no fish yet) and the
>bog-wood is leaching incredible amounts of tannins,etc. into the water.  This
>is not bad by itself (in fact, that was part of the plan) but there is also a
>rather putrid smell to the water-NOT good. 

I´ve had some tropical hardwood roots and branches which, taken out of a
river in which they´d already spent I don´t know how long, still leached
tannins for almost six months.  The putrid smell (and the greasy film
discussed in a previous thread) often comes from oily substances contained
in the wood.

The wood itself gets covered with a
>strange growth that is difficult to describe.  It looks somewhat gelatinous,
>but when it is removed, it looks somewhat filamentous.  It does not appear to
>be any kind of algae, at least none that I am familiar with, and appears
>brownish in color, (but this could be staining from the water, which is very
>dark) 

Scrape it off with a tool or your fingernail and change 2/3 of the water
daily.  It helps if your tank is heavily planted with fast growing species.
 If you don´t want those species to become permanent residents, tie a bunch
of Myriophyllum to a stone and put it in a small plastic container.  Sink a
few of those in the tank and the algae will infest them, rather than the
wood.  They´re easier to remove by pruning the growing tips.

The tank is being filtered by a large Tetra sponge filter.

I don´t think a sponge filter will remove tannins.  I had to switch from
external box filters to a Fluval 403 with large amounts of activated
carbon, to see a difference in my 55 gl.  Changing the carbon every 10-12
days also helps to get rid of the rainforest aroma.


>Does anyone on the list have experience with this bog wood?  I know that
it is
>widely available locally, almost all the shops have it.  Does it need to be
>treated (boiled, soaked, Chloroxed, whatever) before using in the aquarium?

Boiling helps, but in some of the hardwoods it doesn´t make a big
difference.  Clorox will not prevent or reduce leaching, but it will
eliminate some of the algae.  


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