Is Driftwood Just Like Bogwood?

[Ben M]

i have a 4ft community tank and i have seen some driftwood on plants alive, is it like bogwood, and it's very cheap, is there a catch?

thanks

 

[mdwheeler]

i have a 4ft community tank and i have seen some driftwood on plants alive, is it like bogwood, and it's very cheap, is there a catch?

thanks

I did a little research on this. Bogwood is filled with minerals and usually found underwater. It also decays significantly slower than driftwood due to the minerals, and also weighs more due to the minerals (therefore it sinks much quicker than driftwood). Bogwood also containts tannins that give most bogwood a reddish tinge. These tannins can also leach into the water and color it (to an extent) but doesn't really pose any harm on your tank. Some people will boil the wood or pre-soak it for a while to reduce the tannins while others prefer the natural look the tannins have on tanks.

Driftwood is usually found in the ocean and tends to contain salt minerals that make it more bouyant than bogwood, making it much harder to keep underwater. Most driftwood will need some type of weight to holds it down until it is fully soaked. ALTHOUGH even when it is fully soaked it may try to float, just not as significantly as before it has soaked. It also doesn't contain tannins.


I have a piece of dirftwood in my tank and think it looks fine. You can also attach plants to either type. For the most part it's really a choice of preference: in other words get what you want.

 

[Ben M]

thanks. i think i prefer driftwood.

 

[mdwheeler]

thanks. i think i prefer driftwood.

Yep just a bit less maintenance!

 

[Ben M]

does driftwood encourage algae to grow? because i had some bogwood once but then loads of algae grew and my dad threw it all away. but i had only just set my tank up about a coupe of months before and i think it was just an algae bloom. is that right???

 

[mdwheeler]

does driftwood encourage algae to grow? because i had some bogwood once but then loads of algae grew and my dad threw it all away. but i had only just set my tank up about a coupe of months before and i think it was just an algae bloom. is that right???

I don't believe that it actually encourages algae to grow but if you do have high lighting and not enough co2 and not enough plants then you might have algae growth but as long as you've kept your tank pretty well maintained and have very little or no algae I wouldn't worry about it. I've had a piece of driftwood in my tank for a week already and there is absolutely nothing but java moss growing on it.

BTW I have a ten gallon with 48 watts of lighting. Thats 4.8 wpg! Had some algea but fully maintained it now theres none.

Basically if you ever see any algea AT ALL bump up your co2 and pull any of it out that you can.