# Driftwood in African cichlid tank question.



## dkreef (May 23, 2008)

so i know about tanin and lowering PH etc.

i bought a large driftwood that weighs about 10lbs(15x18x8"). this was in a LFS tank for a year and owner said it is cured but can leach some minor tanin into my tank.

I have a 350gal tank and he said it wont really affect the water color or the PH that much. My tap water PH is 8.2 and very hard.

i still am planning to soak this wood in the tub and place heater set at 95F to cure even more before placing in my tank.

whats yur thought on yellowing water and lowering PH in my tank?

also other than Java fern and java moss, what other plants are good to attach on grow on driftwood?

(i got 4x54W T5 set up with 2 10k and 2 actinics)

thanks


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

driftwood has never lowered the ph of my tank, from what i have read on this site, the tannins are what lower the PH, so if no tannins are leaking out, then your ph will not change (much) I live in Arizona and with 4 peices in my 75G. I'm still at 8.0 PH when it's 8.0 out of the tap.


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## dkreef (May 23, 2008)

soaked in 30gal tub with heater set at 93F and maxijet circulating water. after a day, water is turning yellow. ******* lied to me. 
ill need to keep on curing it.

normally, how long does it take to get tanin out?


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

i boil it....A LOT if you can boil it then boil water and pour it on there and (when not hot) scrub it with a potato brush ( or something stiff like that) it's a lot fast to boil small amounts of water, instead of boild like 2-3 gallons at once, just to help you go faster lol


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

IF it's been in a tank for a year, it isn't going to come out in weeks. 95 degrees isn't going to do anything so you can just turn off the heater.

Put carbon in your filter, that will remove the tanins, Replace frequently. If your water is really hard I wouldn't worry too much, and a tank that big a 10lb piece of wood isn't going to change that much anyways.


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

It is my understanding that the influence driftwood will have on ph is marginal. I would try to boil it really well several times rather than let it soak in warm water, especially considering what under_control stated.


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Dec 26, 2005)

if you have a high enough KH, the effect will be minimal.

get a bucket of water from your tank, shove the wood in, and test the water after a week, if its dropped dramatically (by more than 1/2 a measure (cant think exactly how to phrase 1/2 a pH thingy...)) hen you will need more KH, in which case sodium bicarbonate will do the trick.


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