Do you think adding a big piece of driftwood to my tank would be ok? I have mainly coral substrate and about 65lb of tufa rock. My ph stays at 7.8. Do you think the wood would lower my ph? I'm talking a 20"H x 12"W piece of wood. 150g tank size.
driftwood really lower ph?
- Thread starter slowlyburn
- Start date
It's very possible that if the wood releases a lot of tannins into the water that it will effect your pH. Try soaking the wood first (even if you can only get part of it in a bucket) in some dechlorinated water, and test the pH of water after soaking for 24 hours.
i added a large centerpiece 15 x 11 in my 20 gal long . it dropped mine from 7.0 to 6.8. water is still crystal clear, although when doing a water change in a solid white bucket there is a slight tint. however i keep tetras so this is helpful in my case.
boil it if it will fit in anything, then soak for three or four days. change water several times during. Ive never seen a change, and its 55g
I tap water is 7.8. I have 2 medium size (8-12 inch long) pieces in my tank. My pH measures at 7.2-7.4, before and after water changes. I think it helps!
Do you have the wood already? I bought a piece recently from an eBay seller who sold presoaked w/ tannins and pieces that had been soaked until the tannins were down to little or none (haven't tried that kind). My piece added tannins to my 20 gallon and brought the ph down from 7.9 to around 7.5 in around 36 hours. That was a large piece in a 20. A piece that size in a large tank like yours won't have nearly the effect, I would imagine.
there's really no way to know in advance if or how much driftwood may lower the pH since (a) all wood differs with respect to how much tannins it contains (b) the size of the wood and the size of your tank are part of the equation and (c) everyones water chemistry is a bit different.
a very general statement is that yes, you can expect driftwood to slightly lower pH and color the water. soaking the wood in advance can mitigate these effects.
a very general statement is that yes, you can expect driftwood to slightly lower pH and color the water. soaking the wood in advance can mitigate these effects.
The driftwood I placed in my aquarium was a piece my aunt and uncle had used in their cichlid setups for two years so a lot of the tannins had already leeched from the wood. So even though I have a massive twist of driftwood that barely squeezes into my 10-g, it hasn't had any real adverse effect on my pH levels that I have seen. The natural tap water in this area reads out at around 7.6-7.8 which is roughly what my reedings have stayed around.
