driftwood

[dontburnthe_pig]

i just bought a nice piece of driftwood from my LFS and i was wondering how i can make it tank ready. I know you should boil it to get the tannins out, but for how long? and anything else to make it tank ready. Also, the guy at the LFS was trying to tell me that driftwodd lowers the hardness of the water just like it lowers the pH. is this true?

[jgavlock]

I bought a piece of drift wood from my LFS last night. I didn't have a pot big enough to boil it in so I just put it in the bathtub and poured boiling water over it a couple of times. Then, with the benefit of extremely hot water out of the tap, i just let it soak for a few hours in the bathtub completely submerged. I was able to add it to the tank about 5 hours after I got home from the LFS and there was no change in the water.

[legendaryfrog]

just boil it momentarily. if its too large, then put it in a bucket of really salty water for 24 hours.

[dontburnthe_pig]

does adding driftwood soften your water?

[slowlyburn]

I would like to know this also. How does driftwood affect your tank?

[jgavlock]

Me too! That would help me since I have very hard tap water and recently added drift wood.

[Shocker6966]

really badly if it's rotting like mine is :sad:

[H3D]

Also, the guy at the LFS was trying to tell me that driftwodd lowers the hardness of the water just like it lowers the pH. is this true? Depends on the type of wood, but most likely it will.

[dontburnthe_pig]

Depends on the type of wood, but most likely it will.

i have malaysian driftwood..does that lower it?

[icecubez189]

Malaysian driftwood does lower ph. i purchased one on ebay and im waiting for it to arrive. hopefully, it'll give my tank a more natural look and lower the ph for my BF tetras, although my ph is normall low anyways.