Driftwood and Rocks: too much?

[DarylF2]

I recently ordered a nice selection of Swahala and Malaysian driftwood from Drs. Foster and Smith, and the pieces arrived today. They sent me a terrific variety in terms of coloration, overall size, and shape/geometry. I'm very pleased!

In the past, I've used driftwood sparingly but had a fair number of rocks. I'd prefer to keep most or even all of the (beautiful) rocks, and add a fair amount of driftwood. Will there be a problem with this?

My pH tends to be a little high for my liking (its 7.0-7.2, while I'd like it closer to 6.8-7.0), and I'm thinking more driftwood will help this. My tanks tend to be South American in terms of water (soft and slight acid water).

I'm already planning a massive overhaul of my 38-gallon tank this weekend. I'm removing the UGF and replacing the plain gravel substrate with Eco-Complete. I'd like to make a nice underwater landscape with rock and wood caves, and perhaps have several tall and/or stacked (solidly, to prevent an underwater rockslide) pieces on one side. My shrimp will especially like this, as I can put a nice piece of driftwood up to a power-head for him. He LOVES parking in front of my power-head now; but with my current setup crawls up my heater (which I've unplugged for the summer). After the overhaul, the heater will be in the lower-rear away from the power-head.

I'll have a lot of plants, but should still have plenty of planting room with my planned layout. I'll also eventually be training plants (Java fern and heopfully some mosses later) to grow on my wood.

As long as I stack VERY carefully and make sure everything is very steady, and boil/soak my driftwood (which I'm doing now), does this seem okay?

 

[JustOneMore20]

The Swahala DW lowered my KH and pH in my 29g a little bit. Malaysian lowered the pH in my 10g a little also, so you should like the results.

When you stack, I'd just bump it a little to make sure its stable. I didn't boil the Swahala DW or the Malaysian. I haven't had any problems with either. My Swahala pieces were too big to boil....I just soaked them for a few weeks changing the water every few days. If you are wanting to use them this weekend though, boiling will release more of the tannins. And you'll be happy to know that it sinks right away!

Post some pictures after the overhaul, if you can. I'll be setting up a 38g planted soon and I need some plant suggestions of what works.

Good luck! You'll love the Eco.

 

[mr funktastic]

one of the best things i ever did was cover my driftwood in moss. my rocks also. if u keep in mind what the peices will look like after they are grown in a little and make sure that the wood doesnt over take the tank then add as much as u want. just remeber that wood also creates shadows so place is based on where your plants are goign to be.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Thats a good point Mr. Funktastic. I can't get E. tennellus to grow in front of my DW because of the shadow.

Also if you get anything other than java moss, make sure the plants don't overshadow it (if you do get some moss). Mosses like Christmas and Taiwon need good light and lower temps to do well. I think java moss will grow anywhere though.

And remember that DW takes up a good amount of space....or atleast the Swahala kind does. My pieces are pretty wide, so I had to keep that in mind with my plant placement.

 

[mr funktastic]

yes java moss will grow anywhere lol. i also have christmas moss which grows quite well even in slightly shadowy areas. and the colder temp thing i have never heard of. my tank is always at 80 and it is growing fine. if u do go with moss make sure u geta selection. just having java can often make thigns very boring. i cant wait for pics

 

[DarylF2]

I'm a picture nut, so I'll be taking plenty of (before and after) pictures and will probably update my .Mac web site (the link is in my signature) on Saturday or Sunday.

I am excited about the new look I'll be achieving with the tank; the difference should be significant. I'll be ordering more plants this weekend, too! I want to set the tank back up first to get a bigger idea of what types of plants I want, and what will fit where.

 

[Jchillin]

So long as you keep a decent amount of swimming space, you can have all the wood and rocks you want.

Before I went heavily planted, I had a ton of wood and rocks in mine. I slowly removed portions as my plants increased in volume.

 

[DarylF2]

I was thinking of putting some of my new (boiled and soaked) wood into the 38-gallon tank tonight, so that perhaps some beneficial bacteria can grow on it to help minimize loss of biofilter when I do my huge tank overhaul on Saturday morning (in 1-1/2 to 2 days).

Will that be enough time to get a useful amount of beneficial bacteria growing on the new driftwood?

 

[src]

While any additional biofilter will help, 2 days isn't enough time for them to get established well on anything you add now. The ammonia converting bacteria reproduce every 12 hours, and the nitrite converters take about twice as long. Also, they will only grow to match the supply of food, so if you have a healthy colony now, it will take even longer to populate the wood/rocks.

 

[DarylF2]

Done! I posted about it in this thread, and pictures will follow there probably tomorrow.

Thanks for all the advice!