Driftwood

[IcedAngelKiss]

I'm fairly new to aquariums, and I was wondering what the benefits of Driftwood are. I have a 26 gallon tank with a peacock eel, tiger fish, angel fish, silver dollar, and shark fish. as far as decorations go I have fake plants and a pirate ship...
Thank you in advance!

 

[jcolon]

1. As far as decor, DW can give your aquarium a more natural appearance.

2. As far as the fish are concerned, DW can offer them hiding places and or territories to claim. For some fish like Red-tail sharks, setting up territories to claim is important and DW can greatly help.

3. As far as water chemistry is concerned, DW releases tannins that can help lower a tank's pH. At the same time it usually stains the water a tea color which is sought after if your trying to simulate a blackwater environment.

4. As far as filtration is concerned, Beneficial Bacteria can colonize the surfaces or DW which you can then use to help seed a new tank.

 

[revchristinejday]

I'm relatively new too, but I know that driftwood is super for attaching some plants such as java fern and anubias...looks good too!

 

[IcedAngelKiss]

what would I need to do to prepair the driftwood and/or tank?

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

Put driftwood in a pot of water. Wait till water boils. Let water boil. For 10 min. Empty water repeat and keep repeating until water is clear after being boiled. Then place driftwood in your tank!

 

[IcedAngelKiss]

Put driftwood in a pot of water. Wait till water boils. Let water boil. For 10 min. Empty water repeat and keep repeating until water is clear after being boiled. Then place driftwood in your tank!

Thank You!

 

[jetajockey]

If your driftwood is real driftwood, as in comes from the water submerged, it probably won't release any tannins. I'd still sun bake it, or boil it to kill any possible hitchhikers.

 

[IcedAngelKiss]

silly question but what are tannins?

 

[jcolon]

silly question but what are tannins?

Organic matter released from DW, Peat ... I believe it's what's released from tea bags that give tea it's color & taste.

Completely HARMLESS to fish, just discolors water which eventually will clear up as the DW leaches out it's tannins and you do PWC's. Some DW can leach tannins for weeks, months even years ... depending. Boiling not only kills off bacteria / parasites in or on the DW, but also helps the DW leach out the tannins faster.

It's really a no-brainer IMO, DW does add so many positives to an aquarium. Also, it the DW is tall enough, you can try to use it to hide air-hoses, heater, intake tubes etc.