# Driftwood Issues.



## Tomorrowland (Mar 9, 2012)

Okay guys, I need some help here. Let me start out by saying, I'm a bit obsessed with the aesthetic aspect of my tanks. I like to keep my water crystal clear, my substrate well vacuumed, scrub my walls with a MagFloat daily and I go through almost a full bottle of API Safe & Easy Aquarium Cleaner a week. 

Anyway, when it comes to my freshwater tanks, while I have been planting them for awhile now, I had not yet used real driftwood. Last week, I received two new juvenile Green Dragon bristlenoses (thanks again, Susan) and I heard somewhere that they needed driftwood. I already had some Malaysian driftwood that I had planned on adding to my 30gal, but the 15 needed something smaller, so I bought a small piece of Mopani driftwood. I boiled it three times, 15 minutes each, to help get rid of excess tannins. I had also moved a few clumps of Java Fern from my 75gal into the 15 for them, so I switched out my 6500k light for a 10,000k for awhile to help the plants grow faster.

I've had the driftwood in there now for 4 days and for two of those days, I was out of town. I came back to water so dark I could barely see my Gold Gourami I have in there, the white cottony moss/fungus/algae/whatever growing on the driftwood that I've found out since is characteristic but harmless, and what appeared to be excess food (I almost had a talking to with my younger brother who was taking care of them while I was gone) that I've since found out was shed from the cottony stuff growing on the driftwood.

I did a 50% water change yesterday to get the water clear and scrubbed the driftwood in hot water, but today the cottony stuff is back, and the water is already a light tea color.

So I have a few questions. Do bristlenoses need driftwood? I've since seen conflicting information. And if so, is there a way to get rid of the tannins faster and safely? And what can I do about this cottony stuff?


----------



## hanky (Jan 18, 2012)

O.K. heres what I know, which may not be much lol, I have had plecos for years not untill i read on this forum did I know about the need for driftwood, so back in January I picked up a piece of ZooMed Mopani wood from petsmart, soaked it for 3 days in water and kept changing water twice a day, then put in tank and had no problems never got any tannins leaching or cottony moss growing, although my nerite snails have laid eggs all over it darn snails, so I'm not sure if driftwood is absoulutly nessecary or not, my little albino bristlnoses do enjoy it though, Hoped I helped a bit.


----------



## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

the water color change is due to tannins, what kind of wood did you use?


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

A 10000k bulb may make the water darker with the tannins in there. 6500k seems much brighter to me. It is not likely you'll see any growth differences in using either or, not proven differences anyway.

The cottony stuff is normal. I have two types of dw in my tanks and have seen it on both types. It will stop. I have one piece that keeps producing after 5 months in the water.

Tannins may keep going for a while with no guaranteed way to make them stop. Mopani is the worst from what I have read.

None of this stuff is harmful and will pass.


----------



## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

I have quite a bit of DW in my tanks and like Ben said, I have one piece that is still leeching after 4 months in the tank. It will go away after a while but if it bothers you that badly put it in a rubbermaid tote and soak it there until it stops.


----------



## Tomorrowland (Mar 9, 2012)

Thanks guys. Like I said in my original post, I used Mopani driftwood which sounds like it's the worst so I probably should have grabbed some more Malaysian. The tannins don't bother me nearly as much as the cottony stuff because like I said, it's shedding all over the tank and doesn't look so great. Will scrubbing it daily help any? Also, should I just stick to my original weekly 50% water changes or is it safe to do smaller pwc's more often to help get rid of the tannins? I'm going to change back to my 6500k bulb also and see if that doesn't help with the water darkness.


----------



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Ok, yes bristlenose needs wood in there for help with digestion.

One trick to get rid of tannins is soak for a day in 1 part bleach to 19 parts water. Will also help with the fungus. Rinse several times in clean water then soak over night in water that is over dosed with prime. After that boil for an hour take out cool and put into tank.


----------



## Tomorrowland (Mar 9, 2012)

Thank you Susan! When you say soak it in the bleach/water mixture for a day do you mean a full 24 hours or just during the day? Also will the BN's be okay without the wood for 1-2 days if I do that?


----------



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

full 24 hours


----------



## gar1948 (Jan 25, 2012)

I use Mopani driftwood in my tank. I soaked it in hot water for weeks, changing the water every other day and still got tannis staining in my aquarium. It did finally stop after 2 or three months. I do love the Mopani because of its different color tones and it is very dense and will last longer than other types of wood.


----------



## Tomorrowland (Mar 9, 2012)

susankat said:


> full 24 hours


Awesome, thanks. I think what I'll do is just deal with it in the 15 but go through that process with the Malaysian wood for the 30. Then once I transfer them, do the same with the Mopani. Gonna put my Rams in the 30 next week to keep the cycle going, then add the BN's, then the Gourami last because he's a bit of a jerk... Although he does leave the BN's alone for the most part.


----------



## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Most fish actually like the tannins. It's more natural, like you would see in a lake. I thought I would hate it, until I put real drift wood in the tank, but I ended up loving it, and now that it's gone I'm sad.


----------



## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

the tannins also help kill off any bad bacteria in the tank.

After 5 years I still have mopani leech.


----------



## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Charcoal in your filter is effective at removing tannins, or you can just do extra water changes. If I want to get tannins out of wood I boil it for a couple of hrs or soak it for several weeks/months. I almost always have wood doing something somewhere in our house, my husband is very patient . Never tried bleach because I cant use it (allergy).

The white fungus will pass, usually in a week or two but sometimes longer. Snails and shrimp seem to love eating the stuff, and some fish too. It never lasts long with my nerite snails on it.


----------



## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Bristlenoses eat wood. They don't poop sawdust like my Peckoltia did, but they need the high fibre in their guts. 
Your question is whether you want to keep them or not. If you want them to thrive, then your aquarium has to get a tiny bit out of control. The more you boil and clean the wood, the longer it will take for the life forms that will control a little fungus on the wood to get established. You'll create a loop of cleaning and fungus. 
The tannins are a normal, healthy development in any tank with rainforest fishes, and if you want to keep the bristlenoses (wonderful fish, IMHO) you have to deal with tannin stained water for several months to a year. I grew to like the look of tannin stained water. it brings up the colour in fish like cardinals and Apistogramma.
But if your goal is crystal clear water and a very controlled tank, you have to stay away from Loracarid catfish and all cichlids. You may have trouble keeping a lot of species in tanks as clean as yours sound. You may not realize how much grazing of micro-organisms keeps your fish busy all day.


----------



## Tomorrowland (Mar 9, 2012)

To be honest with you, I can't remember experiencing any difficulty keeping any species I've had my heart set on. I'm aware of the fine line between a balanced, clean tank and an over cleaned tank and while I do have a strict weekly regimen for all four I have running right now, it's not overkill. My question was not whether or not I want to keep the bristlenoses, I know I do. My question was what I need to do to keep them happy. And if it's letting the wood do its thing, fine. I was more interested in if the tannins or fungus would be more harmful or beneficial in the long run, but now that I know, I'll just let the driftwood cure naturally in both tanks (as I'm setting the 30 up for dwarf NW cichlids).


----------



## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

I've never tried mopani, but I've never had fungus or tannin issues with my malaysian driftwood. If you can't get the mopani to settle down you may want to look into swapping it for some malaysian. Between the carbon in my filter and boiling the malaysian driftwood for an hour before putting it in the tank I've never noticed my tank get any darker for tanins. They just look great, make my pleco happy, and turn a lovely dark brown with a hint of green from algae over time. Its completely doable to have both a nice looking tank and a happy pleco.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The problem with the fungus looking stuff is you never know when it is going to show. I had Malaysian wood in my 125g for over a year and then some showed up. I let moss grow over it and the rest is history. Depending on the wood, maybe you could get some moss to cover the wood. All but one of my tanks have moss on the wood, but all have more than ample space for fish to chew on if need be. I don't keep Plecos, but if I did they would still be fine with the areas that don't have moss.

Just a thought.


----------



## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I have always been too cheap to buy mopani, and cure my own local pieces of wood. The fish usually clean off any early fungus. I also try to allow a little algae and overgrowing on the edges of the tank, for any fry to graze and as a back up when I travel.
I kind of like a little tannin staining - not when the water's black, but a light tea looks very good with many fish.


----------



## Tomorrowland (Mar 9, 2012)

navigator black said:


> I have always been too cheap to buy mopani, and cure my own local pieces of wood. The fish usually clean off any early fungus. I also try to allow a little algae and overgrowing on the edges of the tank, for any fry to graze and as a back up when I travel.
> I kind of like a little tannin staining - not when the water's black, but a light tea looks very good with many fish.


I have to agree. While the initial staining was very dark, it's now been almost 3 days since I did the water change and it's stayed a lighter tea color (I also switched up my filter media which may have helped). That combined with the 10,000k bulb and the plants gives it a nice, natural deep water look that I'm starting to enjoy. 

Makes my Gold Gourami's coloring really pop too.


----------



## Dr.Forbin (May 8, 2017)

Hey! That was a good answer but I was wondering if you'd be willing to follow up a little. I was wondering if there were any other solutions to the driftwood issue? Is there a substitute to the other forms that are so bad for a tank? You said you used mopani, does that not grow that horrible white fungus? If there is some other way to give the plecos what they need from the driftwood, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!


----------

