# How long does it take for tannin to start leaching into the water?



## datfish (Sep 7, 2012)

I've been soaking a small piece of Malaysian driftwood over night, and the water hasn't changed colour in the least. Does it take longer than this, or does my piece just lack tannin?


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

Try leaving for a few days and see if your water yellows. It can take weeks and months to stop leaching, depending on the piece.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

it probably is leeching tannins if it's not an old, used piece and you just dont see it. I think depending on the size of the wood it might not be so noticeable. The log in my 75 has my water looking like coffee without the use of purigen. While my smaller tanks you hardly notice it. But if you get a glass of water out of it & set it on a while plate you will see that it is indeed discolored from the tannins a little bit.


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

I second the purigen. Does wonders. I have 3 big bags in my FX5 on a 75 gallon.


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## datfish (Sep 7, 2012)

It's a very small piece for my 10 gallon that I bought new, so it's probably just hardly noticeable then. I'll soak it for the rest of the week and if nothing changes I'll probably add it then. Would you suggest boiling driftwood, or is that not necessary? Thanks!


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

you can boil it...but some tannins are usually beneficial to fish. If it's a small piece I don't think you'd have anything to worry about. It probably wouldn't discolor the tank enough to notice ime. Tannins also can lower the Ph but it would take a pretty big piece to make that be a problem too


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

What kind of fish are you keeping? Whether or not tannins are beneficial kind of depends on the fauna.


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## datfish (Sep 7, 2012)

DBam said:


> What kind of fish are you keeping? Whether or not tannins are beneficial kind of depends on the fauna.


Right now Black Neon Tetras, but I intend on adding Pygmy Corys and a Betta. I know they're beneficial for Bettas, but not sure about the others.


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

Definitely for the others too. You're probably fine to leave the wood in there, and with regular water changes shouldn't have any water parameter swings.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Definitely the Purigen. I had a 75lb stump in my 400 before and the water was really dark. Two days with Purigen and the water was clear. 

Also depending on the type of wood, some may leach very slowly or very little at all. Wood is often mislabeled as well.


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

I used to own a paint manufacturing company. Tannis was used in the manufacturing of anti corrosive paint primer. 

I'd boil the wood to extract the tannis.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I have a log in my 75 gal tank that takes up about 25 gallons of space. I took my purigen out a couple months ago to clean and didn't get around to it. The water in that tank is currently a tea color from the tannins. I found the wood on a reno jobsite in an old flower garden, it wasn't fresh, but it wasn't super old either. All I ever did was soak it in a tub of hot water for a couple days as it is too big for any pot. Almost too big for the tank even lol The fish do fine and have no problems with it and have yet to have one death in that tank due to that. Not sure what harmful tannins they extract for paint use but it must not be too bad considering almost every river or body of freshwater I have been to or fished in has dead wood, trees and leaves in it... amongst other things. It is a natural occurrence especially in the region the op's fish come from. Maybe it's a particular wood they extract it from for the paint, would be interested to know more on that if so. They used to also use tannins to "tan" leather. 
Even boiling does not remove all of the tannins from wood most of the time. Some woods can leech tannins for a long time.
I have a couple smaller pieces I boiled for a long time and they still leech tannins a couple years later.
Purigen in the filter is the one guaranteed way to remove tannins from the water if necessary


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

For a 10 gallon tank and a small piece of wood, the tannins is in the water but you wouldn't probably see too much yellowing. If you really want to compare, use a styrofoam cup or a dixie cup with a white inside, and scoop up some tank water you'll notice that the water has a tinge of tannin in it. If you have driftwood in the tank, they'll be tannins being leeched. if you want more tannins and get your water really yellow, almond leaves will do the trick.


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## Smallermouse (Jan 28, 2012)

Thats what i did for my drift wood too. And it worked very well.


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

Some trees release tannin when attacked by leaf eating insects. The tannin is bitter so they move on to a better diner.


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

SNIP:

If you wan to identify tannins that are not complicated by the other components in a wine, then brew a very strong cup of tea and take a sip before adding any cream or sugar to soften it up. This drying, astringent compound is a tannin.

Tannin

I wonder if you can pour tea into an aquarium?


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## datfish (Sep 7, 2012)

Well I soaked for a while longer, rinsed it under hot water a few more times and added it to my tank. I came back just a while ago and no change to the water colour whatsoever. Although the Neons seem happier, which is good.


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

Time will tell with how much tannin you may observe. I doubt it will lead to any problems if waterchanges stay consistent. It's great for soft, acidic water params anyways. 

By the way, insects don't avoid tannins because they're bitter, insects can't taste bitterness. We taste tannins and things still eat the monarda in my garden (monarda is used for the classic Earl Grey flavour). Plants produce tannins as a defense mechanism because they're complex molecules that are hard to digest. This combined with a low available nutrient content makes the plant undesirable or inefficient as a general food source; just ask any Cerambycidae.


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## mcrocker (May 29, 2010)

I wouldn't worry about tannins, especially with neon tetras. Their natural environment is streams and creeks and other small bodies of water that are full of wood.

I have a tank with some neon tetras in it, and my water can get pretty brown from a piece of wood I have in there. When the wood was newer it would make the water much darker, and this tank has always been extremely healthy. The tetras looked a bit small and pale when I got them, and I didn't lose a single one when acclimatizing them to this tank, which had the fairly new piece of wood in it at the time.

From my somewhat limited experience with wood/tannins and tetras, what comes from the wood seems to be beneficial, or at least not harmful at all.


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