I found a reallly cool looking driftwood at the lfs and it was also the perfect size for my tank, and i'm considering getting it. Its a dried wood that has a little weight on the bottom, and supposedly "ready to put". But before i buy it i wanted to make some things clear...
First of all, do driftwood mess with the water chemistry (pH and all)?
Second of all, it suggests having it waterlog first, but how can i tell if this waterlogs? i hear that waterlogging is done when the wood sinks, but this one has a weight....
Any ways, I wanted to make sure if this is a good one to buy.
Any other advice will be nice too.
Thanks!
Full Version: Driftwood
Yes. Driftwood can eventually mess with your pH as it slowly deteriorates in your water. Dont know exactly how long that takes, but I dont think its something that will happen right away. Ive had mine in my tank for about 4 or 5 months and no signs of a pH crash or anything.
It is good to soak your driftwood anyway before adding it to your tank. If you want to totally waterlog, from what I read, you will need to soak it for several weeks.
I soaked mine for 2 weeks just because I wanted to soak out most of the tannins that will color the water. If you just drop it in your tank from the store, its likely that it will turn your whole tank brown for a few weeks. To avoid this, soak it first for at least a week. After two weeks of soaking the brown went away in the water and I added it to my tank and no problems with water color at all.
It is good to soak your driftwood anyway before adding it to your tank. If you want to totally waterlog, from what I read, you will need to soak it for several weeks.
I soaked mine for 2 weeks just because I wanted to soak out most of the tannins that will color the water. If you just drop it in your tank from the store, its likely that it will turn your whole tank brown for a few weeks. To avoid this, soak it first for at least a week. After two weeks of soaking the brown went away in the water and I added it to my tank and no problems with water color at all.
Usually ppl only add driftwood in their goldies tank if they also have plecos. But like gia said, it's quite safe to have driftwood as long as you properly treated/soaked it beforehand.
As much as I adore Driftwood,I'm in agreement with d_golem. If you are also keeping Plec's that need wood in their diet,I can certainly see the point.If you're not though,your best bet would look around for an Ornamental piece of wood. They have them so real looking now, & they don't alter the chemistry of your tank in any way,and you won't have the constant little wood pieces and shavings to gravel vac regulary. 
Ornamental driftwood sounds good! I don't have any plecos at this point any ways (but eventually... I hope to).
No hassle compared to real driftwood too
I'll see if I can find any that looks good in my tank.
Thanks for the advices guys!
No hassle compared to real driftwood too
I'll see if I can find any that looks good in my tank.
Thanks for the advices guys!
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