Driftwood in african tank

[MNfishy]

I have an african cichlid tank, the water is out of the tap 8.2 PH non chlorinated, so if i was going to get a bristlenose pleco, could i put a little drift wood in there? Or would that unstablize my tank?



Thanks
Joe

 

[semper fi]

you can put driftwood in an african tank. i have driftwood in my african tank. mine is used driftwood. you may find that the ph is lowered slightly. as long as the driftwood is prepared correctly, you should not have too much of a problem. also be aware that driftwood contains tanins in the wood. when wet, the tanins are released into the water. the tanins are not harmful to the fish, but will turn the water brown.

 

[freddyk]

I agree, a bit of driftwood won't make much difference one way or another. In fact, starting with a higher ph you may not notice any difference. Just don't go overboard with it.

 

[MNfishy]

Ya I was just thinking one piece for the pl*co, and ill soak in the bathtub for a while. Thanks for the help

 

[jumpman]

One piece will be fine if you give it a good soaking first....probably wont even notice the ph move at all...

good luck

 

[fuzzyferret]

I have had bogwood in my tank now for a couple of years, and have had no trouble at all. My water didn't go brown or anything, and it didn't seem to affect any other levels.
I understand that Malawi cichlids do not have much vegetation normally, but if you give them some, they love it!
My bogwood is planted, and my yellow labs have successfully bred many times with the fry using the plants as their main cover from other fish. In fact I'd say that they preferred this to the rocks as cover - I don't think I lost any!

Tracey