Help Driftwood
- Thread starter Jake
- Start date
I put a small piece in one of my 10g tanks, I it got from the LFS also, it was suppose to be "Tank Ready" I did the whole boil thing anyway, even after all of it, it still discolored my water a bit, only lasted a couple days though, now everything seems normal. But as someone else said, be sure to remove any rough/jagged pieces.
Driftwood comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes - and as many types too - and most can be found at your LFS.
Mopani wood is (IMO) the most decorative, with contrasting light and dark ares. It doesn't leach that much tannin, and I've had it in my tanks for years without mishap.
Bogwood does colour the water significantly though - and continues to do so over a long period of time (we're talking in years here). But it has it's uses if the colouration and possible drop in Ph is what your after if, (for instance) bio-typing a specific habitat.
What you don't want to do is to go into the garden and lop a bit off a old stump. Some woods are poisonous, and no ammount of boiling will make them safe.
Stick to choosing from what the LFS has to offer and you at least have a reasonable chance that even if it floats - colours the water - whatever - your fish will be safe.
can't help chuckling as I remember a few years back about a member on here who had a problem with floating wood ........ he attached two bricks to it with wire to hold it down - and posted the pic. Surreal.
Mopani wood is (IMO) the most decorative, with contrasting light and dark ares. It doesn't leach that much tannin, and I've had it in my tanks for years without mishap.
Bogwood does colour the water significantly though - and continues to do so over a long period of time (we're talking in years here). But it has it's uses if the colouration and possible drop in Ph is what your after if, (for instance) bio-typing a specific habitat.
What you don't want to do is to go into the garden and lop a bit off a old stump. Some woods are poisonous, and no ammount of boiling will make them safe.
Stick to choosing from what the LFS has to offer and you at least have a reasonable chance that even if it floats - colours the water - whatever - your fish will be safe.
can't help chuckling as I remember a few years back about a member on here who had a problem with floating wood ........ he attached two bricks to it with wire to hold it down - and posted the pic. Surreal.
I wouldn't consider driftwood to be "discoloring" to water. I would say it's coloring the water. There is a difference - especially when you want and like the blackwater effect. In my mind I prefer the more natural conditions that it promotes.
Boiling it will decrease its usable time in your tank. It breaks down a lot of the cell walls and promotes decay. Keep in mind that you're dealing with an organic product.
All you really need to do if you get it from a reputable source is merely scrub it under hot running water and put it in your tank. Enjoy the pretty amber color it gives to the water - and any acid loving or blackwater fish that you have will more than enjoy the enhancement to their environment that its chemistry will bring.
Boiling it will decrease its usable time in your tank. It breaks down a lot of the cell walls and promotes decay. Keep in mind that you're dealing with an organic product.
All you really need to do if you get it from a reputable source is merely scrub it under hot running water and put it in your tank. Enjoy the pretty amber color it gives to the water - and any acid loving or blackwater fish that you have will more than enjoy the enhancement to their environment that its chemistry will bring.
As you have no idea where it came from or what has happened to it since. What it has been exposed to chemically or biologically in processes that it has gone through. then my advice is always to ....:-
Run it under the tap with a hard scrubbing brush...
If poss Boil for an hour to kill anything it may have picked up. (if you can't boil it then leave it to soak in the sink for an hour in a bleach solution. But if you do have to do that. BE SURE THAT YOU SOAK IT FOR THREE OR FOUR HOURS IN A STRONG DECHLORINATOR CHANGING IT EVERY HOUR OR SO AFTERWARDS.
leave to cool and place in tank. This as said will hasten its decay. But I always do this and have wood that has been in my tank for 5 or 6 years now with no obvious problems. Any way I would prefer to throw it out and get some new wood if necessary, I feel my fish are alive and deserve the best that I can do for them and yes I am a bit paranoid about what I let "Infect" their environment..
The "DISCOLOURATION" is just the tannins in the wood, and some say these are beneficial to the fish as they reproduce natural conditions better than without them. I know that I see a lot more of my fish Especially the Pictus's (or is that Pictae) and Synodontids when I have darker water, than when I have clear water. Also the warm brown colour is really nice to look at. The wood is a very safe texture for the fish to rub against, and many like to chew on it. Shrimp will spend all day picking the minute algae spores out of it and of course it forms its own macrocosm of healthy life in the tank.
Against all this I have also heard that in a very bad way this tannin can ... err ... err.. . well .... um.. Nothing actually..... no not a thing. Has anyone ever heard anything bad about it...?
Run it under the tap with a hard scrubbing brush...
If poss Boil for an hour to kill anything it may have picked up. (if you can't boil it then leave it to soak in the sink for an hour in a bleach solution. But if you do have to do that. BE SURE THAT YOU SOAK IT FOR THREE OR FOUR HOURS IN A STRONG DECHLORINATOR CHANGING IT EVERY HOUR OR SO AFTERWARDS.
leave to cool and place in tank. This as said will hasten its decay. But I always do this and have wood that has been in my tank for 5 or 6 years now with no obvious problems. Any way I would prefer to throw it out and get some new wood if necessary, I feel my fish are alive and deserve the best that I can do for them and yes I am a bit paranoid about what I let "Infect" their environment..
The "DISCOLOURATION" is just the tannins in the wood, and some say these are beneficial to the fish as they reproduce natural conditions better than without them. I know that I see a lot more of my fish Especially the Pictus's (or is that Pictae) and Synodontids when I have darker water, than when I have clear water. Also the warm brown colour is really nice to look at. The wood is a very safe texture for the fish to rub against, and many like to chew on it. Shrimp will spend all day picking the minute algae spores out of it and of course it forms its own macrocosm of healthy life in the tank.
Against all this I have also heard that in a very bad way this tannin can ... err ... err.. . well .... um.. Nothing actually..... no not a thing. Has anyone ever heard anything bad about it...?
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Like the shrimp, Plecostamus will also benefit from the nutrients in driftwood, as I learned two days ago from an employee at Lebanon Pet and Aquarium in Lebanon, NH. I always had a hard time keeping Pleco's, so I was very happy to hear this!
I was going to boil my new piece, but if the fish will benefit from the nutrients released along with the discoloration, I am good with that. I think a good scrubbing will be enough.
I was going to boil my new piece, but if the fish will benefit from the nutrients released along with the discoloration, I am good with that. I think a good scrubbing will be enough.
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