Hi all, still in the building/decorating process and I went on craigslist the other day and found this sweet piece of driftwood. I was planning on going with fake plants to make things a little bit cleaner, so with a piece of driftwood I bet I can expect some algae growth. I dont want that haha. So my question is, can I seal my piece of driftwood? I guess I mean is there a clear coating that is safe for aquariums?
Driftwood! coating/sealant??
- Thread starter Condor13
- Start date
I wouldn't bother just boil it and plop it in. Live plants will help with algae but if you keep your tank clean, don't over feed and don't over do the lighting you should be fine.
I guess I dont know a whole lot about how plants affect the water/tank. Better do some reading. Can't boil, its kinda big.
Find a way of cleaning the wood before you plop it in and if you don't soak it your water could go brown . This isn't a problem for the tank but you may not like the look it should fade away though.
The bottom line is the plants will compete for the same food sauce as the algae so the algae can't grow as well.
Good luck.
Agree on the plants competing with algae for food. Also, I rarely recommend adding fish but sometimes a few bristlenose plecos will help out with the algae significantly.
coating the wood wouldnt do much... algea will grow on any surface including glass, plastic decorations, substrate etc. keeping water in check and not going crazy on lighting will be the key. plants and an algea scrubber can help also.
If you do have a set up for a little community tank, some cory clean up crew would do. =) And they pretty fun to watch, and always come in as a group.
Real plants have virtually zero drawbacks. They compete with algae (meaning less algae), create oxygen, offer your fish a more natural and destressing environment. Plus you can get great looking ones that need no specials attention for literally a few dollars online and at pet stores. If the wood is too big to boil the. Just scrub it down with water. Stick it in the oven at like 125 for a few hours to kill parasites and put it in your tank. If it releases a lot of tannins that you don't think looks good then just do more water changes than normal and it will eventually clear up
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