Driftwood question

[Daryth Darkmoon]

I was recently given a piece of grape wood and have been boiling it for about 4 hours now. I have changed the water 4 times now, but it still looks like tea when I pour it out.

Is grape wood good for aquariums and will the wood eventually stop coloring the water?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

First off, no grapewood is not FOR aquariums....can you use it...yes!! i've got a huge piece in my 40 gal. right now. and 4 hours wont take all the tannins out (stuff that turns water brownish) only time will take all the tannins out...i've had my piece in since last summer about, and still about once a month i look at it and decide that its too dark, and have to do a water change. However, if you put some carbon in the filter (what kinda filter by the way?) and that takes care of water discoloration.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

I don't actually have a filter yet. I was considering a sponge filter, but I can add a small corner carbon filter. I'm setting up my 5.5 for a crowntail betta. I'll be leaving in a few minutes to buy him.....

I have a spare tank running to keep him in until the 5.5 is ready.

I don't know if it will matter in the tank, but I've been boiling that damn wood practically non-stop for a good 12 hours now and the water in the pot is clearing up nicely....I guess I'll find out when I add the wood to the tank. Thanks for the advice!

 

[sir_dudeguy]

oh its only a 5.5? i figured you'd have some canister filter or something (i was thinkin a bigger tank) so thats why i suggested the carbon...but you can find a cheap aquaclear filter online...just get the cheapest one. those are supposed to be really good for adding stuff like carbon in them.

are you having trouble with it sinking too? cuz with mine i did, but my piece is huge tho, so that might be why. I ended up just letting mine sit in a rubbermaid tub full of water for about a month or so...just left it in the sun, cuz in az here, the sun pretty much boils the water on its own lol. and i put a brick on top to get it to hold down under. and eventually i just didnt wanna wait for it to sink, so i tied a baggie full of the same color sand as what i have in the tank to it to weight it down.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

After boiling the hell out of it with frequent water changes for about a day and a half it sank, and there is very little water discoloration. Now I just need to get some extra money to buy plants and a filter.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

its for a 5.5 gallon right? You could just get one of those mini compact bulbs that srew into a regular lamp...i think they come in 10 and 20 watts or something...just try to get the higher wattage one. If you did this, you could just get live plants, and you wouldnt need a filter. I'm gonna be attempting this on a 10 gallon soon...as soon as i can get the plants lol.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

Really? I'll have to give that a try. Not running a filter on that tank would definately help my pocketbook.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

yep...try doing a search for like...biofiltration or something like that on here...might come up w/something. but If you have enough live plants, they eat up all the amonia and stuff i think. and they also give off oxegen if they're doing well. And for a 5.5 you could usually find a pretty cheap filter too tho, but imo, thats just one more thing to worry about cleaning and whatnot...Also, when you add a bunch of live plants, you probably wont even see a cycle, since the plants use up the amonia and everything. I've only got 2 watts a gallon on my ten gallon, so i'm just gonna try some low light plants once i get some money, and eventually go up to like, 20 watt bulbs, since my fixtute is for 50 total.

what kinda fish aer you lookin to get again?

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

I'm going to put a crowntail betta in the tank.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

ya, i think they should be fine w/live plants. Just get a few smaller ones, and about 15-20 watts of light in there, with some sand, and you should be pretty well off. A cheap alternative (well...not so much alternative imo...its the only thing i use now) to aquarium sand is either play sand, or pool filter sand. I've heard that pool filter sand is better for plants, but play sand is fine too in my experience. you can get a 50 pound bag for like, 5 or under at home depot or some other store like that. I think the pool filter sand is a litte bit more than play sand, but not more than a couple bucks i think. it usually better to have your plants in sand, as the roots and runners can grow in it better.

 

[Thebluyak]

for a tank that small if you wanted to do a nice plant set up and have lots of root feeders eco-complete is like 20 bucks and its a 20 lb bag, you will have it left over and it is kinda pricy but it does have lots of nutrients in the soil for plants. Its a black color to so green plants look good contrasting with it.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

yeah, thts true too...unless you could call the company and see if they'll send you a smaller bag?

 

[Thebluyak]

I dont know if they make it any smaller, i think 20lbs is the standard size for all planted substrates, flourite,eco-complete