# driftwood peeling and leaching



## flyingmomo (Jul 6, 2017)

Hey friends hope you all are having a good weekend.

I got 2 driftwood off kijiji which have been in my tank for 3 years now. One of them, I think a Malaysian driftwood is heavily planted with java fern and I think the brown bits peeling a mulm and biofilm. Its not at all soft to touch. 

The other one I think Azalea or bogwood, not sure (pic attached) which wasn't planted except few anubias tied to it. At first it was ok but after 2 years, this driftwood had this soft outermost layer which peels off powdered wood bits if I scratch it a bit or with too much water flow eroding it. It didn't harm the fishes or inverts but made my substrate very dirty. Both the driftwood still leach a bit of tannin after 3 years, the azalea more so. 

I am concerned, is it rotten and wasting away hence should get rid of it or is it very natural thing with driftwood ? The azalea has been removed for now and I boiled it and scrubbed it and even baked it. It still peels at the nooks and cranies where I could not scrub it. Someone suggested giving the wood a sand paper treatment but I am not sure. I do like the look of it hence I kept it hoping to solve the issue. 

Any advice or suggestion is appreciated.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

Driftwood does fall apart over time, some species faster than others. It's natural and it shouldn't harm your fish. Sandpaper won't help because there is no bark on it anymore -- the rest of the wood is probably relatively uniform in composition throughout. Either you will have to accept how it behaves when wet or you will have to find another piece of more robust driftwood to replace it.


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## flyingmomo (Jul 6, 2017)

*driftwood*



characinfan said:


> Driftwood does fall apart over time, some species faster than others. It's natural and it shouldn't harm your fish. Sandpaper won't help because there is no bark on it anymore -- the rest of the wood is probably relatively uniform in composition throughout. Either you will have to accept how it behaves when wet or you will have to find another piece of more robust driftwood to replace it.


Thank you characinfan, I believe that might be happening. But this post made me go back to the driftwood and if you see in picture, you the the darker parts seem to peel off when I scratch it and I see a more lighter wood underneath. While the ligther parts of the wood which I got by scrubbing seems to not get soft in water. Although the peeling bits are woody, is it possible they are just a thick layer of mulm and biofilm. Anyways thanks though as much as I like it, I think I should give it to someone else with a terranium or discard it


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## Akinari (Mar 20, 2018)

It's the wood breaking down. I had something similar happen with my cholla wood, gave it a good scrub with a brush and it stopped "flaking". 

As for the tannins ... your guess is as good as mine?


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## flyingmomo (Jul 6, 2017)

*driftwood*



Akinari said:


> It's the wood breaking down. I had something similar happen with my cholla wood, gave it a good scrub with a brush and it stopped "flaking".
> 
> As for the tannins ... your guess is as good as mine?


Yeah I think the tannin is mostly from this brown flaky outer layer. When I scrub it out its like a mixture of mud and wood sawdust. Tbh I scrubbed it a bit first but I think I rather just give it away and use maybe dragonstone or lava stone


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