Driftwood help pls

[mswift]

So I have decided to convert my 130 gallon flagstone set up to a drift wood set up, what per-cautions should I take? I have the wood soaking right now, and I'm wondering what I should do with my cichlids during the change over? Is there going to be a huge change in water parameters? And also should I wait and cycle the tank with the driftwood in it??

Any help or suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

Driftwood doesn't usually drop your pH rapidly overnight (of course it would depend on how much tannins is released and therefore the type of wood). It does tend to drop it over the course of a few days/weeks if your water isn't well buffered. My advice is to just make sure you leach out as much of the tannins as possible and then just watch the pH for the next few days. If you see it slipping do some small water changes to get it back up again.

Where did u get the wood ? LFS? or did u find it? Make sure there's nothing rotting on it before putting it in your tank.

 

[mswift]

Thanks I actually got it out of my father in laws garden, its 1 VERY large piece and 2 smaller pieces..... They all seem very nice and healthy I didn't notice any rot