Driftwood blues!

[BeelzeBob]

driftwood is usually not kept in brackish tanks. softens the water, and changes ph, cna be bad for fish and system.

mos BW species are all about the hard waters.....

just my 2cents

 

[Irish563]

Not sure that I agree. I dont know of any driftwood that has ever lowered the PH in a tank to a major degree. I dont think there is an amount of driftwood you can add to a tank to lower hardness with any significance either.

Irish

 

[liv2padl]

i agree with irish ... brackish water should be hard and alkaline. you can't lower the pH with driftwood to any significant degree, if at all, in water which is hard and alkaline.

 

[effulgent]

I had driftwood in my brackish tank, and after a few months, I started getting this thick, black algae on everything. The driftwood was rotting! When I took the wood out, it smelled rancid and was so soft I could push my finger in it.

I'm no professional, but I think I would stick with rocks or plastics instead of driftwood.

 

[Irish563]

What kind of driftwood was it? Where did you get it? I have heard of this happening with certain kinds of driftwood. But, the majority of the time that isnt the case.
Thanks for your response.

Irish

 

[BeelzeBob]

i would never put wood in a brackish tank. it does indeed soften the water, and is just about garunteed to rot.

for the same price you can get resin artifacts that look just as good.

just in my experience and from what ive been told is that salty water and wood are a bad mix.

maybe someone with a little more experteise can chime in as to exactly why.

 

[Irish563]

I have never had that problem with Mopani, cypress, or african root wood.
What kinds of wood are you talking about? As I stated before, I have heard of some that will do that, but they will also do that in FW.

Irish

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

I would wager a bet that the woods that are softened and rotting in a Brackish tank are a softwood, likely some sort of Pine or Spruce or Fir, or even a wood like Poplar/Aspen or Maple. Those are considered soft woods and as such, they do not sink unless they are totally waterlogged. Woods like African Root wood and Mopani sink even when totally dry because the fiber of the wood is so dense that it is more dense than water even when porous and filled with air - aka - dry. I would suggest the harder woods like Mopani and Malaysian Driftwood for a wood that will be more Rot resistant. I may even go so far as to include Cyprus due to the fact that they grow in swamps and the wood does not rot out from underneath them so to speak.

All of this is just speculation though, stuff I remember from a College Botany class and my own personal studies, but I AM certain that harder and denser woods are more resistant to rotting in water than softer woods like Pine or Maple.

 

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