Habitat - Indoor :: Curing Driftwood

[josephkr]

I bought a couple pieces of driftwood and want to put them in my turtle's tank. I threw them in the tank and waited for them to sink. Meanwhile, the water became cloudy and I realized I probably need to cure the wood. The guy at Petsmart told me to submerge the wood in a bucket of water and change out the water every day until the water stops turning into the nasty smelly tea stuff. Well, it's been more than a week and the water still turns into the nasty tea. How long does this take? Am I doing it right? It's almost not worth the price.

[Eltemp]

It can take awhile. I have some drift wood that has been soaking for about a month and a half and is still floating. IN my wife's fish tank it is always a tea color by the end of the week and that has been six months and we got it from the store already submerged in a tank. I have read that it can take up to a year. the tannin is not suppose to harm the fish/turtles though.

[steve]

You bought this at Petsmart? If you have a bucket or container you can use, keep it submerged (weigh it down) and try using very hot water (please take all precautions).

[josephkr]

Thanks for the feedback. When I posted initially I started a new method, leaving a steady flow of water trickling into the bucket (and draining). This seemed to clear things up pretty quick. After a couple days of that I soaked it again to see how much tannin seeped out, and it wasn't much. Now the driftwood is in my tank and lookin' sharp!

[steve]

Sounds good, please post a pic!