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Is there any way of testing for the presence of sulphur?

I bought a beautiful piece of drift wood on an on-line auction site. It came out of a stream on a farm, then was used in a fish pond for several months, then left to dry out on a lawn for several more months.

I'm currently soaking it to make it sink, and I think the water smells a bit sulphury. But none of my friends can smell anything unusual. They describe it as "woody" or "organic"... maybe I'm imagining things? :%)

Many places in New Zealand have geothermal hot-spots so I wouldn't be surprised if there was sulphur where this wood came from. Can I test for it? And what harm may come to my fish if it's present?

Hi,
I'd suggest letting the wood soak in a bucket of water
with known values (pH,KH,GH, etc.) and then testing
the water after a week or so.

Here is a site that should give you some information
to start on. From here you should get the information
that you can take to your own water specialists.
I'd check for well drilling & water quality testers.
Here in the states we take samples of our well water
to be tested annually. I pay $45 for the basic
tests, and $5, each, for special tests such as how much
iron or radon, etc is in the water.

http://www.water-research.net/sulfate.htm

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 05-Dec-2004 04:50

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

The definite indication of sulfur is the smell of rotten eggs...

In some well water systems sulfur can be readily detected and many do indeed drink the water.

Sulfur resembles oxygen chemically but is less active and more acidic and is used in medicine to treat skin problems.

I've drank sulfur-tainted well water before and I can tell you I much prefer Budweiser.

--garyroland.

I don't know about sulfur, but maybe this wood came from a bog or other mucky area where anaerobic bacteria or hydrogen sulfide existed. I'd want to boil it or bake it.

How big is this piece of wood? Will it fit into one of your pots? If so, put it in and bring the water to a boil and simmer it for, oh - about 5-6 hours, adding water as needed to keep it covered.

Unless you want orange water, this will help get out any additional tannins (acclerated process). My water got like a weak tea after about an hour, then at the halfway point, it was like weak coffee. But near the end, it was like pure espresso, baby . I don't think baking will get tannins out.

This has other benefits. If the pond or source this piece of wood came from has larvae attached to it, or disease, parasites, etc, it will help to kill them off. Some creatures/bacteria/viruses/parasites, can survive the drying process.

If I had a piece of wood too big to get into a pot, I'd use water from the hotwater tank and transfer it directly to a rubbermaid trashbin with the wood sitting in there. Let it cool naturally.

I've never baked wood before, but maybe someone else has.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 05-Dec-2004 16:56

Last edited by Cory_Di at 05-Dec-2004 16:57

If you need a recipe for baked wood, Diane, try Martha Stewart's new book out..."Baking Wood for Fun and Fungus."

A dab of vanilla frosting with a little Hikari flakes sprinkled on top should be a super taste event.

--garyroland.

thanks I'll PM you for that recipe gary. And thanks for the tips Frank and Cory_Di.

The wood is too big in every direction to fit in one of my pots. I had it in the bath tub covered in hot tap water, now I've transferred it to a large plastic container. It's been soaking for more than a week, with no sign of any discolouration in the water. It still floats by the way and looks like it will continue to float for a long time... this is no job for an impatient person!

I scrubbed it with a wire brush to ensure any loose wood has been removed, and poured boiling water over it when it was in the bath (hooray for cast iron tubs!)

The pH in the soaking water didn't change at all, nor did the nitrate or ammonia readings. Those are all the tests I have on hand so Frank you might be right - I might have to take a sample to some water experts for more info. The wood only cost $10 so I'm reluctant to spend a fortune on tests, but I'm not going to put the lives of my darling fish at risk either!

Is sulphur particularly harmful to fish? If there is trace amounts of sulphur in your wood, plants would probably soak them right up.

yeah that's what I was thinking noodles. The page Frank linked to is very interesting and it seems that trace amounts won't harm people. But the article was about people-water not fish-water so I still dont' know. :%)