Has anybody here used African rootwood?

C

chicago1847

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Mar 20, 2005
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The guy at the LFS said I could put African rootwood right into the tank without any curing. It looks nice and is a lot cheaper than the mounted driftwood I have seen. Anybody use this stuff in their tank and did it drastically alter the ph of your tank?
 
I've never even heard of african rootwood....but I imagine you could put it in an empty tank and see what it does to the water. A bucket of water would suffice if the wood will fit in it. Check the water and see if the color changes..then check the PH level ...first...before you put the wood in, then after. That way you don't have to risk your tank to find out.
 
Are you refering to Mangrove roots? If so then I suggest you follow the usual rules, boil to remove any nasties, make sure the wood u are using is the hard core piece so that none of it is rotting. I would also soak for a month or two to remove any tannins. I am currently soaking now for my 3rd month on two great big pieces of Mangrove root and tannins still keep coming out (water replaced daily).
As far as i understand tannins colour your water and can form Tannic Acid and hence lower yr PH if you don't have the buffering capacity.
Soaking prevents this and Carbon in the filter will remove the colour (if you want it gone)
 
Maybe you mean the African Mopani, which I use extensively as it's sold everywhere in Israel. It's a two toned tan and brown twisted root. The tag on the wood says it's been cured. I does leach lots of tannins which is perfectly okay for many fish; I've had no problems. The tannins will overload any active coal, so that's a minus. Anyway, you can boil it and release alot of brown before introducing it to the tank.
 
Thanks for the input. The guy at the LFS wasn't specfic as to the exact type of wood...it is already hardened and doesn't need to be weighed down...it is very dense. I actually need the tannins to lower my ph...I'm at 7.5-8.0 right now.
 
Thanks for the info. So the wood will not yield a lower pH indefinitely? Also, what is RO water?
 
RO water is refined demineralised water - varies in it's purity but around 98% pure. Your LFS should be able to sell you some if you take them a food safe container. I use plastic jerry cans from camping stores - they are food safe
 
i picked up some swahala wood last week for my tank, and i'm not very happy with it. my other driftwood went right into the tank nicely, just a little bit of dark water and a earthy, wood smell. this new wood makes the water smell sour. actually, the wood itself kinda smells like dog poop. how long should i soak and wait until i can know for sure that something is wrong with it? maybe it's a little rotten on the inside or something.
 
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