Driftwood. When Can I Put It In The Tank?

[greengoddess]

Hi folks,

My 240 litre tank is nearing the end of its fishless cycle (probably the longest cycle ever at 110 days and still counting!)
I've had a large piece of driftwood soaking in clean water for 5 months. I have been changing the water around once every fortnight to help get rid of the tannins (after good advice on this forum).

When do you think would be the best time to add it to my new tank? Should I put it in at the same time as the fish or should I let the fish get settled for a month or so and then put it in? I don't want to jeopardise my two goldfish in any way. Also, is there anything else to watch out for when adding such a large piece of driftwood? It's around 3 feet long and approx 4 inches in diameter.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi GG,

There are really no timing restrictions per se that I know of regarding your driftwood introduction. You've already taken care of the main one which is to let it get thoroughly soaked in water so that it will stay sunken and to allow many of the tannins to leach out. Hopefully you've become aware of how many days or weeks it takes it to make the water become tea colored. My own wood which I have soaking in a water box on the back patio was easily creating a dark stain in a matter of days at first but now takes longer than a week before the stain appears, so my regular weekly water change should keep the tank looking clear once I put it in.

You can expect a possible drop in pH of course but if its driftwood rather than bogwood that may not be as pronounced, it really depends on the actual species of the original tree I suspect and you just never really know until you try it. Funny thing about wood dropping the pH though is that its not causing it due to a drop in mineral content, so its not really a concern for the fish and I don't really have a feel for whether the tannin-lowered pH would likely slow the bacterial development in the way that nitrate-acidification or mineral-content-drop does. Its not a thing I've ever heard members complaining about during their fishless cycles.

Sounds like a great decoration to have in with your goldfish since it won't be something they can root out and chew to death like they would do with many plants.

WD

 

[greengoddess]

Thanks WD,

I suppose I may be being a little paranoid about adding the driftwood. If I finish this fishless cycle and put my goldifsh and the driftwood in the new tank all at the same time and then something happens to my fish (illness etc) I will be wondering what has caused the problem. If I add the driftwood after a month or so then I could eliminate it from the equation should any health problems occur. Maybe I'm just worrying too much. I have this paranoia that such a large piece of wood may contain something harmful that would make my fish ill.