Craig

im just wonderin if my driftwood could change my water 2 a dull brown colour so much so u cant really notice it just when i get it in2 a bucket 4 water changes its a murky brown colour ?? im puzzled

C W

Marc

Wood leaks tanin(sp?) into the water which will make it brown and lower the pH. If you pre-soak or boil the wood it should remove most of it. FYI, water can also be brown if it's dirty or you have a bad filter.

EDIT: Yes, it's going to make it more acidic. Oops!

Gunnie

I have a couple of smalll pieces of driftwood that have been boiled and then plants have been tied to them. I put a couple of them in my 20 gal. long tank, and within a week, my water looks like a murky swamp. My fish don't seem to mind, and I do a 50% water change every week, so it's not a problem for me. The would should actually lower the ph, so you want to watch that carefully if you do water changes straight from the tap.

Craig

i leave my water in bottles for a week then do about a 25-30% water change each 6-7days the fish r happy enough it doesnt seem 2 b a problem but i was just wonderin what was causin

thanks 4 the help

C W

Gunnie

If you are putting tap water in bottles, the ph will only change if some of the CO2 (I think it's CO2) gasses out. If that's how you are doing it, then I would check the ph on your water you have aged for a week and compare it to the water in your tank before you do a water change. If it's more than a .2 difference, then it will stress your fish. Just out of curiousity, I would also check the ph level straight from the tap to see if there is a difference.

Craig

yeah gunnie tried that 2day the water in the bottles was 7.0 and the tank water was 6.8 so what do u think ??

C W

Craig

what do u think Gunnie ?? would that cause stress if so what can i do about it ?

C W

not4you

Since there's only a difference of .2 between your bottled water and tank water that should be fine for water changes.

Craig

ok thats great thanks!

C W

Mystical

I'm having a problem with my driftwood lowering the pH. How can I get back up to 7?

Gunnie

How much lower is your ph in your tank than your tap? If it's more than .2, you will probably have to do small frequent water changes instead of larger changes less often. That's so you don't shock your fish with a water change. I would not add any chemicals to the tank to adjust the ph.