Is A Piece of Driftwood Bad for AF/Cichlids Tanks?
Zimm44
told that it will lower PH. I currently keep my PH high using corla and haven't
ever had a problem? What's the deal if I add driftwood. I've got a ton of
filtration going in a 55. A double Emperor filter AND a aquaclear 300. ANy
thoughts?
Bilbo Baggins
"Zimm44" <zim...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020124161537...@mb-bk.aol.com...
Im not sure about what it will do to PH, but driftwood can (i think)
increase the tannin levels in your tank - the effect of this i have no idea.
You should also soak the wood in water for a long time (months) so get any
excess salt and other nasties out of it, and to make dure it will sink when
it's in your tank. Generally im not a big fan of driftwood although it does
look spectacular in a tank.
Perhaps someone with more info could enlighten us..?
BB
Nick Heusel
The thing you should be asking yourself is:
a. How often will I do water changes?
b. What is the PH of my tap water?
Basically, if you have high PH, hard tap water, you will not adversally
affect the water in your tank. If your tap water is acidic and soft to
begin with, then you might want to lay off the natural driftwood. I have a
55g with an Emporer 400 & cannister filter and have kept African cichlids
with large pieces of driftwood without a problem. I wasn't even using coral
in the tank (or PH/hardness conditioners). I have well water where I live
so it is always hard with a PH of 7.8 or so. The water in my tank was
exactly the same, doing a 75% water change every 2 weeks. 55 gallons is a
decent amount of water, so unless you fill your tank halfway up with
driftwood it should not be a problem.
BTW, you DEFINITELY should soak the wood in a bucket for at least 72 hours.
Keep draining & refilling the bucket until the water stops turning yellow.
Then you will know it's ready to be put in the tank.
Steven Francis Daley
placing it in a tank, heard it takes a lot of the tannin out of it, and would
suspect that it kills any little surprises that might be in it.
Steve
Bilbo Baggins
"Steven Francis Daley" <dale...@egr.msu.edu> wrote in message
news:3C50AB72...@egr.msu.edu...
> i have never done it, but some of my friends boil the peices of wood
before
> placing it in a tank, heard it takes a lot of the tannin out of it, and
would
> suspect that it kills any little surprises that might be in it.
>
> Steve
>
I did something similar with a piece of wood and it made the wood very soft
such that is broke apart very easily...
BB
Ross Clement
: I want to put a small pice of driftwood into my 55 gallon tank but have been
Why do you want to add the driftwood? So that your plec can rasp at it?
I compromised by adding a really small piece of driftwood.
Cheers,
Ross-c
jim
it in there, without soaking it. It did not stain the water (that I could
tell), but when I purchased it the petstore told me that it had already been
"prepared" and would not contaminate my tank. It has been in the tank for 5
years, the tank has been african for 1 year, and there has been no
discoloration or affect in the pH. I use coral in my substrate, so I imagine
that buffers it.
However, most petstores (like petsmart) use a pH of 7.0 anyway...
"Bilbo Baggins" <flame_...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a2q681$d3f$1...@pinah.connect.com.au...
Mephistopheles
It depends on the KIND of wood. Genuine driftwood is wood that has been
drifting in a large body of water, e.g., the ocean, for some time, so
all its edges and knobs are rounded and it is bleached and dried. Wood
that looks like this should have little in the way of tannins left in
it. But many kinds of wood are sold in stores for decoration in
aquariums -- not just genuine driftwood or wood like it. I would be
especially wary of dark, reddish-colored wood. I have had a piece in my
165 gallon aquarium for eight months and it is still leaching tannins
like crazy (it is too big to boil in a pan). On the other hand, I have
a small piece of what looks like genuine driftwood in my 55 gallon and
it has never discolored the water at all.
Craig.
tree branches are not hard to find. A high percentage of all soluables
need to be removed by long term rain, soaking or boiling. As well as
tanin many timber species have esters which effectively are
insecticides.
because it occurs naturally does not make it harmless!!. These things
are in the main water soluable or have short term residuality, so if
it is well weathered and well soaked its probably is OK.
Craig.
~~((((8:>
and power heads blowing at both ends. The very knowledgable LFS I've
recently discovered sold it to me, along with some ferns (at no cost...$6.99
for it all, and the piece of driftwood is about a foot long and 6" high). I
was told to put it in the hottest tap water I could get out of the faucet,
soak it until the water turns cold, then repeat the process at least 10
times over a period of 2-3 days. I've had the planted pice in my tank for a
week now without any discoloration. The Ph has not changed, nor have any
other things I test for (ammonia, nitrates, nitrites) and the fish seem to
love it! Good luck!
--
Mouse <:3)))))~~
"This invisible man has a place for you full of fire, smoke, burning and
torture and he will send you there to choke, scream, die, suffer and burn
for the end of time. But he *loves* you!"
~George Carlin
"Zimm44" <zim...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020124161537...@mb-bk.aol.com...
: I want to put a small pice of driftwood into my 55 gallon tank but have
Mephistopheles
news:a31kvc$14mf0o$1...@ID-112431.news.dfncis.de:
> I recently purchased driftwood for my 55, which also has a Double
> Emperor, and power heads blowing at both ends. The very knowledgable
> LFS I've recently discovered sold it to me, along with some ferns (at
> no cost...$6.99 for it all, and the piece of driftwood is about a foot
> long and 6" high). I was told to put it in the hottest tap water I
> could get out of the faucet, soak it until the water turns cold, then
> repeat the process at least 10 times over a period of 2-3 days. I've
> had the planted pice in my tank for a week now without any
> discoloration.
That procedure will not always work. I pretty much tried that with a large
piece of dark reddish wood. Despite soaking it several times in hot water
in my bathtub, it has been leaching tannins for about eight months.
(Though having my panaque (a kind of plecostomus) constantly scraping at it
probably makes it leach more than that it would otherwise). I expect
boiling would be effective, but am still trying to figure out how to do
that with a two foot piece of wood.
Net Max
"Mephistopheles" <epiphenome...@netscape.netDIESPAM> wrote in message
news:gX158.21491$ag5.2...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net...<snip>
I expect
> boiling would be effective, but am still trying to figure out how to do
> that with a two foot piece of wood.
Take the cover off of your BBQ, turn it upside down and put it on the grill,
add water and wood inside. I've never tried it, so you are on your own. It
might discolour the outside of the cover so heat slowly. I would also add
some aluminium foil to the grill so the grease doesn't leave any marks on
the cover.
Net Max
Mephistopheles
news:aM458.4987$yi5.7...@news20.bellglobal.com:
Thanks for the idea, but I live in an apt.--no barbecue. Maybe i can
borrow one...? Anyway, at the rate my panaque is consuming it, it may
fit into a saucepan pretty soon!
Loverofbiggones
aquarium salt with baking soda and the driftwood won't matter unless you just
neglect your water changing duties.