Driftwood and your tank....

[ohhsweetness]

when buying driftwood and putting it
your tank....

do you have to soak it in water first
or do anything like that so it doesn't
make your water dirty / murky??....

 

[RedDevilDon2005]

i would def. soak it first. if you can, boil it.

 

[Liam]

I liek to boil mine, but just give it a good scrub and throw it in your tank. it leaches tannin, and in most cases the fish actually like tannin, just do water changes to remove it. to get the driftwood to sink also, wait it down to rocks or silicon it to a piece of glass and put your substrate over the glass.

 

[silverdragon]

yeh your gonna have to soak it in water for a while till its water logged and youve gotten all the tannins out, otherwise if you put straight into your tank it will mak your water brown..

 

[silverdragon]

a plus side of soaking it for a few days first is that the driftwood will sink without you having to weigh it down..

 

[Lupin]

I have no issues with tannins.lol

 

[ohhsweetness]

Whats tannins.....

nd yeah how many days do you ahve to soak it it will b a big bit of drift wood i guess .. going in a 6ft tank ...

 

[Liam]

tannins is just a substance found in wood. not that bad, I don't mind it at least

 

[Lupin]

Whats tannins.....

Tannins are acidic substance leached by rotting leaves, dead woods and other decaying matter. They can lower the pH and KH depending on the amount released. Fish from soft acidic water such as tetras usually benefit from this. Other alternatives aside from woods are peat moss, Indian almond leaves and oak leaves.

See my article for Indian almond leaves.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132234

 

[ohhsweetness]

Yeah but what does it do to your fish though

is it harmfull..