Driftwood care?

[Brandon K.A]

I have never dealt with driftwood before. Any suggestions on how to care for it? Anything I should know? I have a 5 gallon and would like to make it a planted tank with driftwood. I already know how to care for plants as I have another 5 gallon with anubias barteri and dwarf hairgrass, with moss balls and java moss, but would like to know the basics of driftwood.

 

[Gboy66]

Ey i have driftwood, but would like to learn about plant care tanking! Lets
Trade info! First take your drift wood and spray it off to get all loose pieces off. Then boil it. Since its a 5 g i bet its a small piece so you can put it in a pot on the stove and boil away! Change
The water that your boiling it in whenever it gets brown, and eventually it should be clear (could take several hours). We have a outdoor sink, so i fill ours up with very hot water and keep it in that for a night after boiling. Remember, it hasss to stay waterlogged to sink in your tank!! After that, put it in your tank!!!

 

[Brandon K.A]

ok thanks! I have low light plants, and so basically the plant care depends on the plant you have. If you go with anubias barteri which is a good beginner plant, then be sure that you keep the rhizome not burried or the plant will die. Hard to explain the rhizome, so google pics helps haha. I use flourish excel for my plants in place of co2, depending on tank size a c02 diffuser may or may not be needed. I am no expert on plants, but I am just starting to learn more about them. Is it ok to boil the driftwood in a regular cooking pot? Or is it unsanitary? I am a big germ-aphobe haha.

p.s. The easiest plants to grow not requiring c02 or special substrate would be java moss, moss balls, and anubias barteri or other anubias plants. Having sufficient lighting also helps. I think 2watts per gallon is considered low lighting but not sure. Will have to see someone with more experience on that.

 

[Gboy66]

Regular clean cooking pot it perfect. And i had anubus and java moss, but know nothing about lights gravel or watts per gallon haha

 

[Brandon K.A]

ahh ok. And yea, depending on tank size and plants, usually 2 watts per gallon is good for low light plants. I use regular gravel, sand or small gravel. I may use the appropriate plant gravel for my next planted tank if I decide to. But it is not necessary depending of course on the plants.

 

[Gboy66]

Ya i think i will too. Is it a pain to vac the gravel when you clean your tank?

 

[IvanMike]

You won't do this in your 5 gallon, but One thing I can say is that if you have a driftwood piece that you're especially fond of, do NOT get a Panaque (like a royal pleco or blue eyed pleco). Take a good look at those teeth in some photos - they destroy driftwood. When I had a Royal the most common thing plugging up filter media was wood fragments!

 

[Brandon K.A]

Never had plant substrate, so cannot say about cleaning it. Seems liike you would clean it normally, or like how you would sand, just hovering over it. Thanks for the warning, if I ever do get a bigger tank and those plecos I will be sure to stay away from the driftwood.

 

[IvanMike]

actually plecos need driftwood in their diet to help digestion - just don't use an intricate piece you're really fond of - a big lump of wood works good for them and you won't cry when they sculpt it.

 

[Gboy66]

actually plecos need driftwood in their diet to help digestion - just don't use an intricate piece you're really fond of - a big lump of wood works good for them and you won't cry when they sculpt it.

Any type of pleco? Or do certain ones not?

 

[roundar]

Pleco don't need driftwood in their diet. It doesn't hurt or anything, but facts facts facts.

 

[IvanMike]

they all pretty much do much better with driftwood. Only Panaque IME are really tough on it - the "common pleco" types are pretty easy on it as are BN and a bunch of others. There are actually several genera involved, but they all do much better with wood (and zucchini)

 

[Gboy66]

Awesome i would like a bn

 

[IvanMike]

Pleco don't need driftwood in their diet. It doesn't hurt or anything, but facts facts facts.

as always YMMV - I've never seen them thrive w/o it, and all my pleco "expert" pals swear by it. Not trying to start an argument - just my experience.