# Does driftwood everstop releasing tannins in the water??



## Argus (May 22, 2013)

I soaked some Mopani driftwood for a couple weeks with frequent water changes. Then boiled it (probably should have boiled it first). In the aquarium it turned the water yellow for a few months. Then I put a bag of Purigen in the filter and that cleared it up. Checked the filter a few days ago and the Purigen was dark brown (exhausted). Removed it for regeneration and the water has stayed clear. Driftwood has been in the aquarium for about four months.


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## keymastr (May 25, 2015)

Sometimes mine have leached for a couple months and some have hardly leached at all. Just depends on the individual piece. Soaking and rinsing for a few weeks seems to help but different pieces done the same way do not always leach for the same amount of time.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Purigen will clear it up quickly.


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## Timmy!! (Jun 26, 2014)

I agree, purigen works incredible for tannins.

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

Depends on the wood. 
Here's my experience-
-Malaysian leaches the least, after boiling a few times maybe leached some more but very little only. 
-Mopani was the worst. Also after boiling, still leached a lot for several months. Smaller than the Malaysian that I used above. 
-Spiderwood was in between.


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## Kampo (Nov 3, 2015)

yup get a bag of purigen throw it in your filter...recharge it when needed. best 10 bucks I spent.


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## miogpsrocks (Sep 3, 2015)

Kampo said:


> yup get a bag of purigen throw it in your filter...recharge it when needed. best 10 bucks I spent.


What happens if you take purigen out? Does it continue to turn the water brown? 

Purigen is expensive and has a limited number of times it can recharge. 

I would prefer not to wear it out too soon. 

I am just wondering if the wood turn the water brown until there is no more wood left?


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## Straight shooter (Nov 26, 2015)

Technically as wood breaks down in water it will always leach tannins just in smaller and smaller amounts over time. Some wood leaches for longer than others depending on a few variables. If you have wood that just won't stop leaching the only answer is Purigen (or something like it) so you'll have to invest or continue being annoyed. There is no other short term fix.

Yes when you remove Purigen the water will go brown again so you have to buy 2 lots, one for use and one back up to swap out for recharging so your tank never goes without.

You can get away with just 1 lot but it gets frustrating.


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## miogpsrocks (Sep 3, 2015)

Straight shooter said:


> Yes when you remove Purigen the water will go brown again so you have to buy 2 lots, one for use and one back up to swap out for recharging so your tank never goes without.
> 
> You can get away with just 1 lot but it gets frustrating.


I thought tanniens were like a chemical not just liquefied decaying wood?


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## Straight shooter (Nov 26, 2015)

Tannins are a natural compound contained in the driftwood and they are released into your tank water as the driftwood slowly decays.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Do a look at tannins to understand better what you are seeing happen. Tannin is what is used to tan leather and other things. It is found in the sap of the wood so different wood will have different amounts of tannin/sap. Getting dry wood is one way to avoid the problem. But wood with bark still on will be an obvious candidate for more tannin as much of the sap or tannin is in the bark and the soft layer just under the bark. There is some on down in the wood but far less. 
So when you get color it can be from a variety of causes. Some wood starts with more sap. Conifers like cedar, pine, etc. are famous but then there is also the mopania. Mopania is heavy and sinks quickly due to the moisture content. 
Several ways to avoid color are available when choosing wood. Avoid heavy wood as it indicates lots of sap. Avoid bark and avoid the wood types with lots of sap. 
Once you have the wrong wood, you just have to fight it until it goes away. Some can be cleared in weeks, some may takes years. Purigen seems to help, bleach may clear some and boiling may clear some. But it takes a long, long time to penetrate to the inside of a large piece of wood. Wooden ships sail for years and the water doesn't penetrate them.


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## Argus (May 22, 2013)

Tannins are present throughout the wood, not just in the sap layer. Some woods, such as oak, have a lot of tannins. Other woods, not so much. In woodworking, some woods can be darkened with an ammonia fumes. How dark the wood gets depends on how much tannin is in the wood. Ammonia fuming is what was traditionally ued to Mission Oak furniture the dark color. I've used ammonia fuming to darken amboyna burl wood turnings.



miogpsrocks said:


> What happens if you take purigen out? Does it continue to turn the water brown?
> 
> Purigen is expensive and has a limited number of times it can recharge.
> 
> ...


I thought I covered that in post #2. I have a lot of Mopani driftwood in my 30g. One bag of Purigen has pretty much eliminated the yellowing of the water. The Purigen regenerated quite well. So tannins don't kill Purigen. Just try to avoid slime coat products while using Purigen. Prime doesn't hurt it, but I would avoid Tetra AquaSafe Plus.


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