Driftwood

all wood will leach tannins into the water, some more than others, and over time, they will all deplete and quit leaching. Ac will remove the tannins if you want, or water changes. If you collect wood, boil it and soak it for a week or two to get the bulk of the tannins out. I have 1 large and four small peices of driftwood in my 115 the small ones are all too big for a 10g, I have no issues with tannins, and mine is all "common" driftwood.
dave
 
Thanks so much for the help guys! Unfortunately, I went to another local fish store this weekend and was appauled. They had a 2.5 - 3 foot spotted Wobbegong Shark in a tank that was so small it could'nt move more than 2 inches from side to side, and forget about turning around. So horrible, all the tanks were overstocked and there were dead fish everywhere. Needless to say I didn't look for driftwood there.
 
I am still looking for some "natural" (ie gathered) drift wood for my Angelfish tank, and seeing this forum has brought up some questions.

1: Are tannins harmful, or do they just acidify the water? Because unless they will damage my fish I want tannins! I am still trying to build some sort of peat filter because I want my water to be darkened.

2: How long does driftwood need to be boiled to sterilize it, since whatever I get will likely be from a river?

Thanks.
 
QCppg said:
I am still looking for some "natural" (ie gathered) drift wood for my Angelfish tank, and seeing this forum has brought up some questions.

1: Are tannins harmful, or do they just acidify the water? Because unless they will damage my fish I want tannins! I am still trying to build some sort of peat filter because I want my water to be darkened.

2: How long does driftwood need to be boiled to sterilize it, since whatever I get will likely be from a river?

Thanks.
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I'm not an expert on this subject by any means, but will share what I do know and hopefully the experts will jump in. Tannins could be harmfull at high levels, but many fish come from blackwater areas that are such largely due to tannins. You will have to be carefull with tannins, due to the fact that they consume buffers and could cause a crash. but I have known many people who liked and used the brown water look. Peat would IMO be a far better way to estabilish and maintain a bown water tank, as driftwood does leach out and quit staining the water over time. It would take some testing and balance to get everything the way you like it, and stabilized both but should be doable and IMO could make for a very nice tank set-up.

As far as boilong driftwood, I would guess about 10 minutes would be plenty. as long as the wood reaches full temp all the way through it should be done. If in doubt use bleach. with wood, you don't want to soak it for a long time, but yu can give it a minute or two in a bleach solution and then rinse well and set in the sun for a few hours. the chlorine will gass off quickly, and not be a worry.
Dave
 
My crawfish (who lives in the sump for my angel tank) comes from the same river that the driftwood would be from, so 100% sterilization is not nessasary (I will not use bleach). Thanks for the info on tannins, I don't want to make tea, but I do want brown water and plan to accomplish this with peat. I just wanted to know if I had to boil the tannins out of my driftwood if I wanted tannins. Thanks.
 
The boiling is for sterilization as much or more than to remove tannins. Although with a crayfish there is far less it can catch and die from, its always best to be catous of importing pathogens. many things have a different effect on enclosed environments than they do in the wild.

Is there some reason you don't lke bleach. It is the esiest cleaner there is to work with around aquaria. it goes away on it's own, and if you are in a hurry Dechlorinator will neutralize it all but instantly. It is one of the only cleaners that can be stopped without water changes if it is accidently introduced into your tank. and aside from that it is one of the better sterilizers out there so It's highly usefull to boot.
Dave
 
Anyone that has wanted driftwood in their tanks needs to know -- do not put soft wood in their tanks!

If possible, go to your LFS and buy a nice chunk of wood there! Get aquaruim safe wood - ONLY - ...
 
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