Driftwood with cephs?

[joel_ang]

I was wondering if driftwood affect cuttlefish in any way, I don't think it does but I just wanted to be sure since I have been cycling another tank for about a month now and I feel it just needs something else inside.

Btw, wasabe has grown quite a bit and is doing well. He currently has a 2 inch lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra) as a companion which I bought today.

 

[cthulhu77]

You are going to run into some water quality problems due to the driftwood leaching tannins into the water...I guess it depends on the size of the piece, the size of the tank, and how aged the driftwood is...probably a safer bet to get something made of plastic though...
Greg

 

[joel_ang]

Its been used for about two years in freshwater tanks. Its only 4 inches long while the tank is a 25g.

 

[cthulhu77]

Should be ok then...but it is going to soften your water a tad...keep an eye on the hardness levels and you should be fine.
I use driftwood in all of my freshwater tanks, but I haven't tried it in the salts...let me know how it works out!
Greg

 

[joel_ang]

Thanks for the advice Greg, I just put in the drift wood after soaking it in hot water for some time. I'll test the pH tonight.

 

[Colin]

I think that the driftwood may leach tannins into the tank even after 2 years......

I have only seen it used once in a SW tank and that was in a LFS where they had problems keeping fish in the tank, died for no apparant reason... I always had my suspicion about the wood!

 

[cthulhu77]

Piglet has a chunk in her tank that still "teas" the water after more than a decade...but it does look cool, and of course, our water here is ridiculously hard, so she appreciates the softening !
I asked a fellow salt buff about the wood yesterday, and he concurred that it will soften the water, and had never tried it...you may want to try it in a tank of damsels first !
Good luck!
Greg

 

[joel_ang]

I took outt the piece of driftwood from the tank, it did look pretty good though. I'm guessing it could take the pH level way below 8.2 so I don't wanna risk it.

 

[Colin]

I think that's the safest but is definetly an interesting experiment for future