SbCaes Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Im thinking of adding a piece of driftwood to my macroalgae tank... is there anything that might go wrong? or right for that matter? anyone know? would it be beneficial at all for macros? etc etc? thought i might look cool and i found it when i was in hawaii underthewater (it sinks) in sw. Link to comment
Amphiprion1 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Shouldn't be an issue, especially if it was already soaking in seawater for a while. Not really beneficial, except for being a nice 'scaping touch. You can certainly sometimes find wood in actual seagrass beds, too. Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 i was thinking ph.....someone else did that here, never kept up with their tank thread though... Link to comment
SbCaes Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 i was thinking ph.....someone else did that here, never kept up with their tank thread though... same any issues? Link to comment
kgoldy Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I've got no experience with driftwood- but if and when I set up a shallow tank, here's what I'm doing- Step 1. Slather that sh*t in epoxy. Step 2. Let dry/cure Step 3. Place in tank and not worry about leeching issues. There's a few guys on here who've got shallow lagoon style tanks that have driftwood in their displays and use this method. For driftwood that's exposed to the air, it'll give it a nice permanent wet look. Do a search for "driftwood + epoxy" on the members tanks section of the site, you'll get some hits. Link to comment
doppelganger Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 the only thing I can think of might be the tannic acid that could be produced. It'd cause a drop in pH. Honestly I don't think this will affect it too much tho. Unless you have like a ginormous log taking up like 3/4's of ur display, you'll probably never notice any pH fluctuation. Again, it depends on how big the system is and how much wood you want to add. If you soaked or boiled it or wutever and let the tannins leach out a bit even better. If you really want to be safe, I'd probably use epoxy as well like goldy mentioned. Always loved the look of driftwood tho so if you do it, I'd be interested in seeing! Link to comment
wrasseWrangler Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Wouldn't the epoxy ruin the look of the drift wood? After the epoxy it would be a big chunk of epoxy.... Unless there is a some clear epoxy out there and I have never seen it... Link to comment
doppelganger Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 not the putty but the epoxy resin Link to comment
kgoldy Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Wouldn't the epoxy ruin the look of the drift wood? After the epoxy it would be a big chunk of epoxy.... Unless there is a some clear epoxy out there and I have never seen it... Yup, there's clear epoxy at home improvement stores. You can get it in big jars. I did the search... Here's the tank I was thinking of. Giga's mangrove lagoon Link to comment
doppelganger Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 aw I miss Giga's tank Go for it SbCaes! I don't think it would be helpful per se for the macro's but it definitely would look cool. Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 good find kgoldy, that is the tank thread i was talking about. i have to read through it now, I was following when it started then lost it... Link to comment
kgoldy Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 good find kgoldy, that is the tank thread i was talking about. i have to read through it now, I was following when it started then lost it... Yeah, same here. Sad that tank was torn down... But I'm glad it's immortalized on the interwebs forever to provide further inspiration to other reefers. Link to comment
keydiver Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 +1, it should be fine if it was already found in saltwater and is waterlogged. Unless it had djust fallen, in which case just keep an eye on pH, because those tannins will really make it acidic. Link to comment
tako Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I think it's a cool idea worth exploring. If I were to do it, I'd probably want a skimmer and carbon running on the system. Link to comment
Zoafreak Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 hey i have quite a bit aof experience with driftwood in FW, lol i don't know if t helps much. but what people are saying is mostly right. driftwood does leak tannins which produce a not so friendly color and does soften your water. it can be an easy fix, solutions are all over the internet, but i'll just tell you what i do . what i do is... boil it. there simple and easy. boil it in hot water for a few minutes then let it cool. do this a few times and it greatly decreases the tannins emitted into your tank. do not, i repeat DO NOT put the driftwood directly into your tank without treating it. it will discolor your main tank and yo will be depressed and never want to use driftwood again. that is all i have to say about driftwood. lol happy drifting! Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Yeah, same here. Sad that tank was torn down... But I'm glad it's immortalized on the interwebs forever to provide further inspiration to other reefers. by the way, did you see Giga is back on NR. Setting up the mangrove tank too....so this thread continues. Looks like it will be even better this time around, you should check it out edit, here is the link to the rebuild: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry3407821 Link to comment
kgoldy Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 by the way, did you see Giga is back on NR. Setting up the mangrove tank too....so this thread continues. Looks like it will be even better this time around, you should check it out. Oh sweet- I'll def check it out. Link to comment
Zoafreak Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Ya giga's lagoon was awesome. It had the driftwood sticking out of the top of the tank that was mentioned earlier Link to comment
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