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A few months ago, i started adding ammonia to my tank to cycle it. However, after going a long time with no results, i decided to try cycling with zebra danios. I wanted to stock with danios anyway and i have a certain urgency to stock the tank and have it running stably before schoo lstarts again. However, ther was one drawback. The two pieces of driftwood I had in my tank started to decintigrate and made the water extrememly acidic. I've taken them out, but they still turn any water i put them in about 5.0 ph. Is there anyway i can "seal them up" as they are very nice pieces?

The best way to get the tannic acid out of the water is with carbon and water changes. I dunno if carbon will keep the pH up, but you could probably buffer with baking soda if it doesn't.

You should probably soak it in water in a bucket for a few months before adding it to the tank. I've got a piece soaking right now that's been in since yesterday. I've got carbon running in the bucket with a powerhead, and the water has still turned totally dark brown in less than 24 hours. I'm gonna put new water in it tomarrow, and probably repeat at least once every few days...dunno...

g/l

You could soak the wood as scOOt stated to have it leach all tannic acid out of it to stop the pH crashes, but it won't help it's integrity. You can coat the wood in a non toxic clear epoxy (i found some in an auto parts store a while back) to protect it and preserve the beauty. I've suggested this for people who have rocks that are real pretty but don't want the adverse effects and it's worked wonders

n-joy

On the subject of wood soaking, go here.

Fallout's suggestion of an epoxy resin is a good one. Epoxy resins are used to manufacture synthetic bogwood pieces. Might be a good idea to check whether or not the epoxy in question is safe for use underwater, but otherwise, epoxy resins have (in the main) the attractive property that once they are cured and set, they are usually chemically inert. Worth checking the properties of particular resins in advance though!

Just did a quick Google search and found this page which offers aquarium certified epoxyu resins (safe for use in marine aquaria at that!) for sale. Probably a good deal more expensive than an auto shop epoxy, but then you're paying for the guaranteed aquarium safety as well.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002