View Full Version : Amazon drift wood
Has anyone ever used drift wood from the amazon river?
Its very expensive stuff, sold bye the pound, kind of redish in color with streaks of black/brown.
Very cool looking but stains the water a very dark red color.
Is there any way I can stop the wood from leeching out its color?
Scar
cdawson
09-27-2003, 7:28 PM
Nope, just do water changes to get rid of it.
Rometiklan
09-27-2003, 9:47 PM
Get one of those huge rubber tubs and fill it with water. Submerse the driftwood completely. Change the water in the tub everyday until the driftwood no longer leaches tannins into the water. After a while, the water will run clearly.
I bought a huge chunk of this wood a year ago at Big Al's, and I agree that it is really beautiful wood. I love the colour when it is underwater. I didn't mind the stained water too much as I happen to like the tea colour. In my mind, the stained water more accurately depicts a slice of the Amazon river.
Well the soaking it in a tub idea isnt going too work since I have had this wood in my aquarium for about 3 years now.
When I bought the wood from the local pet store, the guy said it could stain my water for as long as a year.
Maybe its because I have so much of it in there, about 100 pounds of it.
I dont really mind the stainded water either, but my lighting cant seem too handle lighting up the tank when the water gets really dark.
Oh well, looks like im gonna have too live with it.
Thanks, Scar
Rometiklan
09-28-2003, 6:06 PM
That must be a really cool set-up. 100 lbs of this driftwood would look very impressive, I bet. Do you have any pics? I'd like to check it out. I have been considering adding more diftwood to my Amazon set-up. I have a nice piece of this wood that leached for a while but it eventually stopped.
I suppose intermittent use of charcoal filtration would remove a lot of the discolouration when it gets really dark. At least that would alleviate the darkness between your water changes. More frequent water changes may help in this regard too.
cdawson
09-29-2003, 11:06 AM
If there's a 100lbs, it's probably going to take awhile. I wouldn't worry too much unless you've got fish that require hard water.