how to treat bog wood before puting it into my tropical tank?

Answer 1

DON'T bleach it! Bleach can absord into the pores of the wood and despite several rinsing with dechlorinator stay there, and slowly leach out into your tank.

If you just found this piece of wood outside, boil it if you can fit in a pot, for a few hours, then soak it in a bucket for a couple weeks, dumping out the water and refilling every other day.

If you got it from a store, you can soak it for a week or two OR put it right in your tank (rinse it first in hot water). If you put it right in your tank, it may leach out tannins which will lower your pH (but not drastically) and taint the water brown. It won't hurt your fish and it'll go away eventually.

Answer 2

Is this wood you found, or wood you bought at the store? If you found it then you should either bleach it as already recommended, or boil it - both will do an equal job of killing anything possibly harmful. If you bought it, then you really need to give it a good rinsing.

Soaking it is an option you can consider to help leech out some of the tannins, but how effective this is depends on the type of wood you have. Some woods will stop coloring the water after just a couple of days, others take months, or even years. These tannins that turn the water brownish are completely harmless to your fish, so the soaking is fully optional.

Answer 3

Boiling is better than bleaching, but the soaking should go on for at least 5 or 6 weeks,with frequent water changes. Depending on the kind of wood it still might color the water in the tank,this really doesn't harm the fish and some people like the look,so it's up to you. If you bought it at a reputable pet store,just rinse it and put it in the tank. PeeTee

Answer 4

First buy it from a pet shop and make sure its treated
I left mine soak for about 2 weeks in a clean small bin
I kept changing the water every other day or so.
Even so when i put it in my tank my water still went a brownish colour. After several water changes the water is now clear
The colour doesn`t effect the fish

Answer 5

You really need to soak it for at least a week before putting it in your tank. I'd soak it until the water was clear because otherwise you're going to mess the balance of your tank up!

Answer 6

Just soak it in natural water for a few days,maybe changing the water inbetween.That should do it.

Answer 7

Steap it for a long time cause if you dont the water will turn brown and it will take a load of water changes to get it clear again.

Answer 8

1 part bleach to 20 parts water for 2 days. rinse well, refill with water for 24 hours, rinse again, put BACK in water -add water safe stuff for aquarium. soak 24 hours again (shake it from time to time) and add.

Answer 9

soak it for a day or boil it once or twice if u got anything large enough to fit it in.