Aquarium wood what you should know!

Nothing looks better than a nice piece of driftwood in your aquarium, but for new people to aquascaping and putting wood in their aquarium it can be a pretty daunting task. But don’t worry, I am here to help! The first thing we need to address when someone asks what they first need to do when getting wood is boil it. Boiling wood at the end of the day accomplishes nothing and in fact, it only serves to deteriorate the wood more rapidly in your aquarium. So why do people tell you to boil your wood? What purpose does it serve, well it is supposed to remove the Tannins, but in fact, it will only remove the Tannins at the very top layer of the wood that you are boiling. What is Tannins exactly? Tannins are the stuff wood releases that turns the color of your water yellow. It also binds up minerals in the water, softening it and lowering the pH, hardness, and alkalinity. This is why some people prefer it in their aquariums.

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You can find various types and shapes of wood at your local fish store.

So boiling would not make any difference as the wood will keep on releasing Tannins for many months, even years. What I would recommend is soaking your wood in a tub or plastic bin for a month or two and weighing it down with something like a brick or rock, so it can properly soak and properly absorb water. Change the water each week and when you do that give the wood a good scrub, once it absorbed enough water it will stop floating which means you can add it to your aquarium. Don’t like the way it turns your water yellow? Then simply use something like Seachem Purigen or Activated Carbon, which you can find on My Tanklife’s storefront. Another myth is that boiling you’re would kill all the pathogens and bacteria in the wood. This doesn’t make much sense to me, Diana Walstad (A long-time aquarium hobbyist. Who trained as a microbiologist and spent many years doing medical research.)

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Wood makes a great addition to any aquarium!

She did some research, which revealed almost all fish pathogens and bacteria being introduced into your aquarium comes from introducing new fish into your aquarium. Another myth I have heard. It is that wood will drop your aquarium’s pH significantly, this simply is not true. Wood has tannic acid in them which is an extremely weak organic acid, you would need massive amounts of that acid to be able to change the pH of your aquarium. So what wood should you use and which should you avoid? Well, any wood you find in our rivers, dams, and oceans. Some wood types are like sponges and absorb everything around them, especially the sewage and pollutants in our waterways. Also, have you seen what people do in our rivers and oceans, would you really put something like that in your aquarium knowing that? Rather, purchase your wood from your local fish shop.

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Tannin-stained aquarium setups are very popular due to them looking more natural.

So what wood is safe to use in your aquariums? And if you really want to collect your own wood, what can you use and what should you avoid. Let’s start with what you should avoid: Pine, Cypress, Cedar, or basically anything that is poisonous. And what wood can you use? Mopani wood, Malaysian driftwood, Bog wood, Cholla wood, Manzanita, Spiderwood. You can also use wood from the following types of trees. Apple, Oak, Pear, Birtch, Alder, and Grape (Will decay a bit quicker than normal wood.) Just make sure that the wood you add has been dead and dried out properly, also once you have added your wood to your aquarium you might notice a thin slimy film forming on your wood. Don’t panic! This is only a type of beneficial bacteria that feeds on the wood, once the wood has been sitting in your aquarium for a month or so it will go away. Your fish, snails, and shrimp will love feeding on it.

[Editorial Note:] Hope the above helps to make adding wood to your aquarium less daunting and dispel some myths about adding wood to your aquarium.

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