Q1: My father has some drift wood that he has found in the past from various locations that is currently sitting on hes veranda (as you do), id would like to put a piece of it in the tank so the O,s have some where yo hide/sleep etc, is there any proper procedure as far as cleaning/preparing this driftwood before i put it in the tank , as i do not want infect the water etc..
(keep in mind im still setting up the tank, it has no O,s in it yet)

Q2: would the same rules apply with rocks as well?

thanx ant

My advice regarding any kind of wood is get it from a reliable source. The last thing you want to happen is you put a piece of wood in your tank and it starts rotting, that will turn your water to shit. Decent large pieces of wood are not cheap, but they are prepared and safe for a fish tank.

As for rock, just give it a good wash and it should be okay. You must bear in mind that wood some rock can act as a buffer which will have an effect on your pH. What some people do is put the wood or rock in a bucket of tap water (obviously what goes in your tank) and leave it like that for a few days and then monitor your pH. If your pH is very very low, you don't really want to be adding lots of wood.

I'm sure someone else will chip in some advice regarding adding wood and rock

excellent, ive been curious about getting some driftwood myself for the longest time, and just couldnt bring myself to drop $100-$200 on a hunk of wood at the pet store.

I have been doing alot of reading on these things,(rocks and wood) yes drift wood is know to lower PH,,while certain type of rocks are know to higher your PH and harden your water(limestone and a few others) they have what is called calcareous in them.

to test the composition of your rock, put a few drops of ordinary white vinegar on it. If it foams, it's calcareous, and will affect the hardness and ph of the water.

other things i have read was about a guy adding a piece of driftwood to his tank ph dropped to about 6 something(i forget exact numbers) which was fine,,,but then having a overnight jump to in ph to high 8's...killed all 12 of his fish which he had for years.

With a new tank,,you might be a little more to try added wood and rocks and following your ph closely for a while..

where as adding a piece of driftwood to a already stocked tank,,i personally wood be extra careful and moniter about 3 to 4 times more then usual..

I do use lots of rocks in my own tank,,and i was told and read scrub the dirt off them well, boil them 10 to 15 minutes and their good to go.
I did some research on driftwood last week,,,and they all recommended to do the same.

lol im a fan of terra-cotta flower pots (the non glazed kind). i have em in all my tanks. small fishys love a place to hide, the O cant eat them in there bc he wont fit, and if you break the pot in half like ive done to most all of mine, u get a nice cave effect.

i found if you take the pots and just put them in a bucket full of water, and let them sit for a week or so, you can then take a screwdriver and a hammer, and knock the bottom out and split the sucker right in half like nothin and it likely wont shatter. i went thru quite a few pots that hadnt been soaked and tehy seemed to disentegrate lol.

the ones in my dragon fish's tank are a nice furry green now and my ghost shrimp graze on them all day. its pretty cool. if my electric yellow i had to remove from my oscar tank doesnt eat them all up ill be havin baby ghosties soon hopefully from what i can tell it has completly ignored the shrimp... but decided he needed to kick my tiny ilttle syndontis's ass and i had to put him in yet another aquarium... i swear i need a fish maid to do all my water changes!

Win wrote:


Oh, so you haven't got any kids yet, that can do those WC,eh?lol

any porous rock that came from the sea will definitely alter your pH
while smooth solid rock that came from the river bed usually do not.

as to driftwood, weather treated items usually do not leach anymore
as the outer surface had been decayed for so long while those not aged
will have some effect, either due to leach or due to exposure to some
elements.

Noddy wrote:


good lord no! im like the bus driver! i always pull out on time! xD