Inert wood pieces

[aquabee]

Hey everyone. Trying to scape my new 20 long, and I wanted to do a branch wood of some sort in it. I have a finely crushed aragonite substrate to keep things relatively alkaline, but most of the woods I've read about leach tannins and make things acidic. I don't kow how much the aragonite will prevent this over time, so I was looking for chemically inert woods that still branch. One of the ones I found was manzanita wood, that has very little tannins.

Ideas anyone? Thanks.

b

[Chef]

What about cedar or african driftwood?

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[aquabee]

What about cedar or african driftwood?

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Thanks Chef. African driftwood and iron root wood definitely lower pH and leach tannins into the water. I've loved this in my South American and Amazon tanks, but it's not what I'm going for in my 20 gallon alkaline shellies tank. Cedar would be perfect... I'm just not sure where to find it locally.

[Nelson]

With my piece of driftwood I just boiled a couple of times and work fine for me and it didn't mess up my water but I didn't try in other types of wood,hope this helps

[aquabee]

With my piece of driftwood I just boiled a couple of times and work fine for me and it didn't mess up my water but I didn't try in other types of wood,hope this helps

I ended up going with manzanita. From what I read, it waterlogs the fastest and also leaches the least amount of tannins. Thanks for the the advice! :)

[dougiefresh]

Manzanita is the coolest. For reference. ADA Old Black Wood is real good and doesn't leach, but not as branchy. It's Malysian hardwood.

[aquabee]

Manzanita is the coolest. For reference. ADA Old Black Wood is real good and doesn't leach, but not as branchy. It's Malysian hardwood.

Nice, thanks! Hadn't even heard of it. And now my manzanita, albeit gorgeous, has clouded up my water pretty well as it's waterlogging, so I'm trying to work around that. :)

[dougiefresh]

Are you running activated carbon?

Also can you use some rocks to hold down the manzanita. It may take a long time to waterlog.

[aquabee]

Are you running activated carbon?

Also can you use some rocks to hold down the manzanita. It may take a long time to waterlog.

I am running carbon, and people on the other thread have suggested Purigen. But the water looks somewhat better this morning, and the pieces are almost completely waterlogged! The smallest was waterlogged yesterday, but I'm waiting on the larger two. :)

[sunkenmetal]

I wouldn't worry about getting purigen unless the tannins in the water bother you.

[aquabee]

I wouldn't worry about getting purigen unless the tannins in the water bother you.

I love the tannins in my angels and Amazon tanks. African cichlid tanks, not so much. But this is not tannins... it looked like I stuck my hand in there and stirred up the sand, that kind of cloudy. Not brown or yellowish.

[sunkenmetal]

I love the tannins in my angels and Amazon tanks. African cichlid tanks, not so much. But this is not tannins... it looked like I stuck my hand in there and stirred up the sand, that kind of cloudy. Not brown or yellowish.

Just keep doing water changes