I am currently setting up a brackish aquarium and I want to have no live plants, but fill it with rock and driftwood. I have a friend who has a lot of live rock she doesn't want anymore and I was wondering if this would be okay to use or would it be harmful? I guess it is not exactly "live" rock. It was, but it has been out of an aquarium for about 3 months now in a bucket without water. I think it would be okay to use but wanted to make sure. Also, where can you get some driftwood that is aquarium ready? All the LFS around here have wood that needs to be soaked for a few months first.
live rock in brackish setup?
- Thread starter sixpack_ey
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Almost all driftwood will float for several months or even longer, unless you soak them or boil them first. It's called "drift"wood for a reason 
Boiling hastens the process. Even then, some people have problems with keeping it submerged and have to resort to bolting it down or weighing it down.
If the live rock is no longer "live", I think it would be safe. I'd make sure it's totally dead and vacant, otherwise the rotting bodies of critters will cause ammonia spikes in your tank. Live rock may also contribute to higher pH and hardness, if it dissolves. Don't know about this, though, since I've never kept live rock myself. Perhaps you want to ask this in the marine forum?
Boiling hastens the process. Even then, some people have problems with keeping it submerged and have to resort to bolting it down or weighing it down.If the live rock is no longer "live", I think it would be safe. I'd make sure it's totally dead and vacant, otherwise the rotting bodies of critters will cause ammonia spikes in your tank. Live rock may also contribute to higher pH and hardness, if it dissolves. Don't know about this, though, since I've never kept live rock myself. Perhaps you want to ask this in the marine forum?
Boil each rock for about 30 min and it will be fine. It will look great and also raise the PH a little which is good for Brackish.
My driftwood was dry when I bought it. My small peice I just boiled for about 12 hours and kept changing the brown water for fresh water. It waterlogged that same day. My other wood (after boiling what I could), I just set some rock on it to keep it down. I check it every couple of weeks to see if I can take the rock off yet.
My driftwood was dry when I bought it. My small peice I just boiled for about 12 hours and kept changing the brown water for fresh water. It waterlogged that same day. My other wood (after boiling what I could), I just set some rock on it to keep it down. I check it every couple of weeks to see if I can take the rock off yet.
Place the rock in a 1:5 solution of bleach:water overnight. Give it a really good rinse several times and then let it dry out in the sun. After that it's good to go.
Driftwood is best left out of a brackish tank because it will mess with your water chemistry. The salty water is very harsh on the wood. If you want some wood, go for live mangroves.
Driftwood is best left out of a brackish tank because it will mess with your water chemistry. The salty water is very harsh on the wood. If you want some wood, go for live mangroves.
All good advice. I will boil the rock to make absolutely sure it is dead before adding it to the tank. I don't think I can get live mangroves around here. I saw some seedlings for sale, but they had to be planted so the leaves were out of the water and my aquarium isn't set up half land, it it all water. I would love to have some mangroves, but have no clue how I would get ahold of any large enough to plant in my aquarium. I already have some driftwood in my aquarium. It was from AZ gardens and it did sink right when I got it and did not turn the water, so I will probly just order from them again, even though I hate paying for shipping on that stuff. I hope it makes it in the brackish water. I wasn't aware that it was hard on the wood. I always see pictures of brackish tanks with driftwood. Does anyone else here have any problems with driftwood in their brackish setups?