# Orange water, drift wood problem?



## Roemgie (May 6, 2012)

Hello!

So I was told that drift wood will make your tank orange if you don't soak it some where else first..I was also told it was harmless to fish so I hope so! 
I did soak my drift wood for a while in its own container, changed the water every day until there was practically no orange. Well I've been watching my tank water slowly get more and more orange! And i was hoping water changes would improve it but it seems to have just gotten worse! 

I was getting ready to change the water and take out the drift wood but I wanted to first ask here to see if someone could help me! 


Here's some pictures. I also kept the drift wood in that container for several weeks, like 4-6 weeks


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## Mashiro (Dec 2, 2012)

It's just the tannins leaching out of the wood still.

Do you know what kind of wood it is? I had Mopani driftwood in my 10 gallon and it took seriously about 2-3 months of regular water changes before the water became clear.

Just give it time, and partial water changes. You'll be a-okay!


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## Roemgie (May 6, 2012)

Mashiro said:


> It's just the tannins leaching out of the wood still.
> 
> Do you know what kind of wood it is? I had Mopani driftwood in my 10 gallon and it took seriously about 2-3 months of regular water changes before the water became clear.
> 
> Just give it time, and partial water changes. You'll be a-okay!


So I don't have to worry about harming my girls?

And yes I believe its Mopani Driftwood so yeah! I'm so excited -___- lol oh well as long as it doesn't hurt my girls


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## Mashiro (Dec 2, 2012)

Nah, your girls will be just fine!

And since it is Mopani, be ready to go through what I did. Mopani wood is very tannin heavy and will leach out tannins for a long time.

You have nothing to fear but water changes! :-D


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## Roemgie (May 6, 2012)

Mashiro said:


> Nah, your girls will be just fine!
> 
> And since it is Mopani, be ready to go through what I did. Mopani wood is very tannin heavy and will leach out tannins for a long time.
> 
> You have nothing to fear but water changes! :-D


Oh poop -__- well at least I know now thank you!! And i'm glad I don't need to worry too much


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## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

Boiling driftwood also helps minimize the tannins


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## gorillakev (Feb 21, 2013)

kyle89 said:


> Boiling driftwood also helps minimize the tannins


+1 I boiled my driftwood for 12 hours, it still leaches tannins but not enough where it will turn the water orange/Brown


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## Roemgie (May 6, 2012)

kyle89 said:


> Boiling driftwood also helps minimize the tannins


The pieces are huge so I don't know if I have a big enough pot for that and my mom doesn't want me using any of hers lol


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## Roemgie (May 6, 2012)

gorillakev said:


> +1 I boiled my driftwood for 12 hours, it still leaches tannins but not enough where it will turn the water orange/Brown


I'll try to see if I can fit some of it in my pot then I'll try lol


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## gorillakev (Feb 21, 2013)

You can also get a 5 gallon bucket and add boiled water to it then keep ching the water once
It turns dark brown. Takes a while though.Was that piece waterlogged when you bought it


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## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

Mine was in water and I still boiled it and got dark brown water. You can also boil it in halfs or buy a large pot at goodwill


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## Roemgie (May 6, 2012)

gorillakev said:


> You can also get a 5 gallon bucket and add boiled water to it then keep ching the water once
> It turns dark brown. Takes a while though.Was that piece waterlogged when you bought it


It might have been but I'm not sure


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## Roemgie (May 6, 2012)

kyle89 said:


> Mine was in water and I still boiled it and got dark brown water. You can also boil it in halfs or buy a large pot at goodwill


I'll probably boil my others in halves


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## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

Was it in a aquarium when you bought it at the store or was it on the shelf


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

Currently going through the same process with my pieces of driftwood as well. Its my first time doing it so bit of trial and error i guess. I poured boiling water into the bucket about 2 times the first day, swapped out for cold over night, it leeched a bit with the cold water in. So i did the boiling water in bucket 2 times the second day, yesterday and today as well, its beginning to leech less and less. It definitely more effective than just letting it soak in cold water.


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## Roemgie (May 6, 2012)

kyle89 said:


> Was it in a aquarium when you bought it at the store or was it on the shelf


I bought it from Aquabid.com and the pictures that were posted they were out and dry


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## Roemgie (May 6, 2012)

Nibblez said:


> Currently going through the same process with my pieces of driftwood as well. Its my first time doing it so bit of trial and error i guess. I poured boiling water into the bucket about 2 times the first day, swapped out for cold over night, it leeched a bit with the cold water in. So i did the boiling water in bucket 2 times the second day, yesterday and today as well, its beginning to leech less and less. It definitely more effective than just letting it soak in cold water.


Oh yeah I would put hot water from the sink in my container for a while and then switched to cold water after a few weeks. Because I didn't have a big enough container the parts that were out of the water would sometimes get mold  but it was an easy scrub off


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