kacie

Hi everyone,
Thank goodness for fishlore I have a question!

I went to my local LFS yesterday and am realized that they sell their driftwood from inside their tanks. My tank is too bare(mid-cycle w/fish) and I would love to get some wood but would it be risky to get wood that's been presoaked or good to get some more bacteria? The store's tanks and fish are beautiful. Great variety and no dead fish. What are my pros and cons?

mitch

I spent $100.00 on 2 pieces that realy look good in my 55. I soaked them for 1 day (not long enought)and put them in my tank. the water turned a tea color. its getting better, but it will take time with water chages. People said i should have boiled it first or baked it. I think persoaked maybe a good idea. The wood could change your pH. If your worried about bringing something into your tank run it under hot water first.

shih-tzu mom

Hi: i am fairly new and some one will come along shortly with more knowledge than i, but i have some driftwood and right now it is in a bucket of water soaking and has been like that for 4-days and i will leave for awhile longer and then i will boil as to what i have read disease can be transmitted through driftwood, thus the boiling to kill anything. I am not sure if you would benifit, good bacteria or not and that is for someone else to say. hope this help's a little. bella

Alasse

I bought 2 pieces with anubias attached, so boiling was not an option. I trust my lfs and put it straight away into my tank with no issues. Wood bought with no plants attached, not presoaked, i boil if possible, depending on size, to get as many tannins out as possible.

If i bought planted wood from a place i didnt trust fully i would be inclined to quarantine it first, especially if they had the wood in tanks with fish.

kacie

The wood is in tanks with fish. The store has healthy fish tanks so maybe it is worth the risk.

Red1313

It's your call. If your fish are healthy and not stressed it might not be so bad.

KyWildFish

I have struggled with driftwood in the past. The boiling is not necessary unless its wild, although probably a good precaution. As for tannins they can be a pain. I have a medium sized piece of wood and soaked it for two weeks, changing the water every night. The water seemed to run clear and I added some conditioner to the water to ready it for its new home in my cycled tank. The next morning it was brown again. It took several more weeks for it to run clear with conditioner and it finally made its way into my tank.
Before that I had a piece that was attached to a chunk of slate. The slate was not big enough and the piece after weeks of soaking would not sink, even weighing it down with a huge rock and lots of gravel. It went back for the first piece I talked about.
That all in mind, it would be great if I could buy some driftwood pre-soaked from the LFS. I would still quarantine it for a while just to be safe.

kacie

Quarantine driftwood how? In a bucket? How long?

goggles2

ive heard for clearing up tanins in the water from driftwood you just need to have some activated carbon in your filter and it will clear the water right up

lilFishyfish

I think if the tank looks healthy than it should be fine. I have drift wood that I soaked myself outside in a bucket, it took over a month for it to sorta sink, and then after that it was still kinda trying to float alittle but I put it in my tank anyway. The water did sorta turn kinda brownish but with regular water changes its all gone now and its completely water logged. You could buy it from the LFS and add it to the tank and add a small amount of aquarium salt (the right about for your tank), since it has a SLIGHT anti bacteria effect (a small amount is also good for your tank overall anyway). Help this helps you!!!!

kacie

Okay I want to try it but I don't think salt and cories mix

Butterfly

You are correct Salt and Corys don't mix well. If you trust the source You could go ahead and put it in your tank. If you're unsure and you have another receptacle(bucket, empty tank etc.) you could quarantine it. It's really a toss up
carol

lilFishyfish

Sorry I didn't know you had corys. (I don't have any right now, but I have in the past, they are SOOOO CUTE!!!)

FishFolk

I guess the question you need to ask yourself is "If I bought fish from this store, would I introduce them to my tank without quarantine?" That shoud be the same answer you give yourself about the driftwood. We have a pretty good LFS here, but I always quarantine anything I get from them. Sometimes diseases surface from very reputable sources - I prefer to take precautions. If floating is your concern, weight it with a piece of slate or a rock rubberbanded/tied to it. The tea color does go away in time Wherever you choose to buy your driftwood, be sure to clean it well. Good luck and post pics when you get your driftwood in your tank

kacie

Thank you all for your responses. I will mull it over. I don't have a Q tank and will be getting a few more fish from my lfs so that is most likely my answer.