Driftwood Cons & Pros?

[Keflan]

I am setting up my 80 litre tank and I was thinking of putting in some driftwood. My local pet store said the driftwood turns your water brown.

Is this safe for the fish? How long is the water brown for? Is there a way to reduce the amount of brown that enters the tank?

 

[Scottyhorse]

The brown water is from Tannins the driftwood releases. It provides anti-bacterial properties for the inhabitants, and can lower the PH a bit too. Some fish prefer lower PH (fish from South America and Thailand) so this can be beneficial. If you don't like the look of brown water, you can soak the driftwood for a month or so, changing the water till it runs clear, OR you can boil it for 2-12 hours to release tannins.

 

[PC1]

Having driftwood in your aquarium gives your fish security and a natural feeling environment to live in. The tannins that are released are harmless but to help reduce them soak the wood in a bucket or something and change the water daily until the water stops being too brown.

 

[Mebbid]

I have found that running purigen is the ultimate cure for brown water. There really isn't any reason not to use drift wood in a tank imho unless you have issues with too low of a pH.

Purigen is used in lieu of carbon (carbon will remove the brown color as well) however purigen lasts a lot longer than carbon does. The purigen takes 1 - 3 months to become exhausted and at that point it can be soaked in bleach to reactivate it. Carbon commonly needs to be replaced every 2 - 3 weeks.

 

[AaronW]

Can't say for sure if there are any cons. Other than they take up space in your tank. Driftwood has more benefits as the fish can hide within it or under it. You can attach plants and moss to it. Lastly it looks awesome! I have a ton of driftwood in my 50gallon. The fibs love it. And so do my Anubias

 

[Malupoo]

If worried about tannins. Get some manzinata, my 3 pieces only needed soaking for 2 days and they hardly leeched at all.

 

[tnfinfan]

I bought driftwood because I wanted a bristlenose and after seeing how nice it looked it in the tank, tied a couple java ferns to it. And, my water isn't brown. I did prep it a bit (poured boiling water over it and changed that after it cooled once with tapwater). It barely leeched at all so I put it in the tank day 3. No issues. Unless you count the white slime but that was temporary and a favorite food of an angelfish.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I soaked my driftwood in a bucket for 2 weeks, changing whenever the water was stained. Then I boiled it for about 12 hours, in two 6 hour sessions. I was still getting tannins, but only after it had been boiling for 2 hours. I dropped it in the tank and haven't had any staining, after a week.

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[abw0004]

Driftwood can look really good in your tank. Just be sure to boil it before you put it in. If it is like mine it will still discolor the water but not bad. It may also have brown slimy stuff that forms on it that are bacteria blooms. The blooms are eating stuff off of the wood. Don't worry the discolored water and bacteria blooms are safe for the fish. If you plan on getting plecos though, driftwood is a must.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Boiling it is the best way to get the tannins out the fastest. It is not good for african cichlids because it will lower the pH. If you have a bushynose pleco, of raph cat you should have it, they enojy nibbling on it.

 

[gilpi]

Boiling it is the best way to get the tannins out the fastest. It is not good for african cichlids because it will lower the pH. If you have a bushynose pleco, of raph cat you should have it, they enojy nibbling on it.

Agree. Not so good for African cichlids since they might soften your water.
My pleco used to gorge on the driftwood in my tank.

 

[Keflan]

I went to my local store and they was selling driftwood with moss grown onto it. So I picked that up for £10. Looks nice in the tank.

 

[tnfinfan]

There you go -- presoaked and already planted works fine. The Petco here had some that was presoaked but it was "planted" with pond snails. Not so appealing!

 

[enrgizerbunny]

There you go -- presoaked and already planted works fine. The Petco here had some that was presoaked but it was "planted" with pond snails. Not so appealing!

I'd just boil it.....pond snails can't survive that right?

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