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I have this piece of wood that i would like to add to my 60g, i have boiled it a couple of times to kill what ever was living in the wood at the time.The wood has tannins in it and would or could carbon absorb it? so i dont have this tea coloured water.

yes the carbon should keep the water clear. if the wood is leaking alot of tannis you may want to boil it a couple more times before adding it to the tank.

Ah. The dreaded leaching bogwood.

When I prepare bogwood for an aquarium, I soak it in frequent water changes before adding to the aquarium. You need patience for this - even a small piece of wood can take three months to stop shedding tannins in unacceptable quantities.

However, for certain biotope aquaria, the tannins are actually a good idea. Discus breeding aquaria are one possible candidate for some staining of the water, as Discus live naturally in waters stained by humic acids. Ditto certain other South American biotope aquaria, or for that matter aquaria intended to simulate any anaolgous rainforest biotope where large quantities of submerged wood affects the water chemistry of the simulated habitat.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002