Thinking about adding a piece of driftwood for my tank. Does it affect the water in any way. Like ph?
Adding Driftwood
- Thread starter danny2875
- Start date
PH can change a bit , but only a very very very small amount depending if the wood is very large . But other than that NO not really . 
Ok, heres the skinny on bogwood and pH. Bogwood contains tanins, and those are slightly acidic. There is also the biological activity, such as decay, that can create acids. However, the amount of acids produced is usually buffered by the carbonate hardness of most water. However, if the water is very soft, it can cause a shift in pH over time. Most likely, however, water changes will replensih the carbonate hardness before that can happen.
There are two issues with regards to adding bogwood to a tank. One is the aforementioned tanins. These are substances in wood that will "leak" out and stain your water a brownish color. This will eventually go away, as the wood leaches it all out and you remove it with water changes. You can speed up the process some. Soak the piece of wood in a weak bleach solution for a week, with a cover on the container. Then, remove the cover, rinse off the wood, rinse out the container, and then soak again for about a week. This will help to leach out the tannins before placing it into your tank. Just make sure that the wood is free of any bleach before you add it to the tank. This will also help with issue number 2.
Wood floats. There is only one species that will sink, and it's not used in aquaria much, if at all. You should presoak the wood until it becomes waterlogged. You will have to put some stones on it to keep it submerged until it does. This time will vary depending on the size of the wood.
Hope this helps!
There are two issues with regards to adding bogwood to a tank. One is the aforementioned tanins. These are substances in wood that will "leak" out and stain your water a brownish color. This will eventually go away, as the wood leaches it all out and you remove it with water changes. You can speed up the process some. Soak the piece of wood in a weak bleach solution for a week, with a cover on the container. Then, remove the cover, rinse off the wood, rinse out the container, and then soak again for about a week. This will help to leach out the tannins before placing it into your tank. Just make sure that the wood is free of any bleach before you add it to the tank. This will also help with issue number 2.
Wood floats. There is only one species that will sink, and it's not used in aquaria much, if at all. You should presoak the wood until it becomes waterlogged. You will have to put some stones on it to keep it submerged until it does. This time will vary depending on the size of the wood.
Hope this helps!
Well i had a pretty large drop in pH. I was soaking a piece of driftwood with some basic water with a ph of 7.6 and within 2 days i decided to check the pH and it was 6.5. But, as said before with regular water changes it will probably counter act the tannins lowering the pH.
A change from 7.6 to 6.5 is a huge jump... Is your tank planted, running co2 or have moss in it?
I live in socal with 7.6 out the tap and its liquid rock, driftwood doesnt change a thing even in my very heavily planted tanks which got down to 7.2 with the plants eventually. I would worry more about tannins if you might not like the way tannins look I presoak my wood for 2-3 weeks to get them out as I personally don't like the look.
I live in socal with 7.6 out the tap and its liquid rock, driftwood doesnt change a thing even in my very heavily planted tanks which got down to 7.2 with the plants eventually. I would worry more about tannins if you might not like the way tannins look I presoak my wood for 2-3 weeks to get them out as I personally don't like the look.
Another idea which i used to sinking the wood other then placing rocks on it .. is get the top of a rubbermaid container and attach all the driftwood you use to that then simply place it under your substrate. I found this easier because i collected the wood myself .. few different pieces and kind of deisgned them together to make them look like one really cool piece but connected in a few different pieces
