Bogwood Vs Driftwood?

[busterbrit]

My PH is at 7.9-8.0 and I want neon tetras. So I was thinking of buying some bogwood.

I went to the LFS and they only had driftwood. Is that the same thing?

Any suggestions?

How mutch will the bogwood lower the PH in the tank?

 

[AdAndrews]

My PH is at 7.9-8.0 and I want neon tetras. So I was thinking of buying some bogwood.

I went to the LFS and they only had driftwood. Is that the same thing?

Any suggestions?

How mutch will the bogwood lower the PH in the tank?

What does lower the ph in the tank is the tannins that come from such wood, yellow stain colour, which to be honest could come in your favour being as though you have a fairly high ph and neons prefer more acidic/neutral conditions.
Driftwood is usually more branchy, wheres bogwood is usually big chunks, some shops label woods up differently though, but both will release tannins, they can be removed if you dont like the yellow/brown appearance with some activated carbon in your filter.

Adam

 

[busterbrit]

thanks. I will buy the driftwood at the LFS.

How much will it lower it?

Will the carbon that gets rid of the tea coloring also minimis the PH lowering effect?

 

[AdAndrews]

thanks. I will buy the driftwood at the LFS.

How much will it lower it?

Will the carbon that gets rid of the tea coloring also minimis the PH lowering effect?

not sure how much it will lower it, maybe by ph0.5, the carbon will get rid of the lowering of the ph as it is getting rid of the tannins that cause it.. I failed to mention in the earlier post that tannins from wood are said to be very benefitial to fish, it mimics conditions in the wild, like the blackwater lakes of south america.

Adam

 

[natalie265]

I like the amber effect that driftwood or peat adds to the water, but have found that it affects my ph almost not at all. I would suggest reverse osmosis water instead.

 

[busterbrit]

I like the amber effect that driftwood or peat adds to the water, but have found that it affects my ph almost not at all. I would suggest reverse osmosis water instead.

As in buying water instead of using tap? It's only a 16 gallon but that seems like it would add a lot more work/time having to go buy that much water... but if it will make my future fish happier then I will do it.

 

[mattlee]

my old tank stabalised at pH 7.8/9 and when i added bogwood to my new tank after a few weeks it settled at pH 7.4. it must be the wood as nothing else is different. just to give you an idea of how much it would lower although i have 2 very large pieces and 2 small pieces in there. i soaked the wood before adding it to rid it of most its tannings and now get a slightly stained water, looks great
ive heard almond leaves will have a similar effect by tanning the water and maybe lowering the pH slightly and apparently adding natural healing stuff into the tank....... not used any but tempted.
more importantly a stable pH is much better than a fluctuating one and a lot of fish will adapt, especially if bougt locally as they should be in similar water to yours

 

[waterdrop]

Wood!

 

[busterbrit]

thanks everyone.

One last question. I went to two lfs today to look at bogwood.

At one of them the bogwood was in a plant tank and had lots of moss/algea growing on it. The other had none and a plant attached that was looking ok. Any thoughts what to get? I liked the one with moss/algea covering it but I don't want it spreading everywhere plus that tank had tones of snails so I don't know if that will spreed to my tank.

Thanks.

 

[OldMan47]

The snails will spread to your tank. If you bring that particular wood home, be sure to clean it well to make sure there are no snails and no snail eggs. Snail eggs look like a blob of clear gelatin with white spots in it.

 

[natalie265]

I have a 30 gallon tank and use 1/2 RO water 1/2 tap water w/every weekly water change (my ph is even higher than yours out of the tap and mixed w/RO water i maintain my tank at about 6.8-7.0). It's not a big deal, nor is it expensive, however, i agree w/Matt that stable ph is more important than ideal ph, so if you go the RO water route, you can't be half-assed about it.

 

[busterbrit]

The snails will spread to your tank. If you bring that particular wood home, be sure to clean it well to make sure there are no snails and no snail eggs. Snail eggs look like a blob of clear gelatin with white spots in it.

Thanks.

What about the moss/algea on it...will that spread to other parts of the tank and take over?

the LFS said I should use API PH down. Is that a chemical? Should I not use that?

 

[OldMan47]

Moss and algae can and do spread. Depending on what kind of moss and algae they are, the moss can be a real plus if you get small fry and the algae can be controlled. For me, being mostly a livebearer breeder, moss is a real bonus in my tanks and I do all that I can to grow it larger and spread it around the tanks. Algae is an issue that anyone with plants must deal with at one time or another. Often all that it takes is reducing the light period in a tank to keep algae under control, but that is not always the case.

 

[ALW]

I like the amber effect that driftwood or peat adds to the water, but have found that it affects my ph almost not at all. I would suggest reverse osmosis water instead.

That is because your water has a high gH and kH.

 

[waterdrop]

Mosses can be a highly desirable thing to people who like plants in their tank. There was a professor who totally specializes in mosses who gave a great talk at the last big plant conference.

One of the easiest plants to attach and use with wood is java fern. This grows almost as a weed in waterways on the asian side of the world I believe but is one of the easiest and most beautiful plants for beginners. It is a rhizome (horizontal root-like stem) plant, so you want most, if not all, of the root structure to be above the substrate. This works out perfectly with wood (any type, bogwood, driftwood or mopani wood I'd think) and I've heard that supergluing it is even easier than tying it on with threads or rubber bands. You just glue a few root in strategic spots and after a while the other roots will naturally attach to the wood. Java Ferns that have been partially in substrate and are brought up to wood will improve in healthiness.

~~waterdrop~~