How much does driftwood lower tank ph
- Thread starter Vampire fish
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Will depend a lot on how much driftwood, the size of your tank and the hardness and starting PH of your water. But in my experience on rainwater the answer is roughly buggerall.
Little effect on PH from a moderate amount of driftwood using rainwater which is soft with minimal buffering.
It's far outweighed by the natural lowering of PH due to waste products etc from the fish.
Wood tends to leach out tannic acids, and any acid tends to lower pH, depending on how strong, and concentration of the acids. This however depends on the natural buffering capacity of your tap water.
If a piece of woods old, it has probably already leached much of the acids out, the more newly cut from the tree, the more tannins acid will be released.
If you have Amazonian fish, tannins are desirable, because those tannic acids have an anti-bacterial component, and produce various stages of tea stained (black (Rio Negro type)) water.
The same way the tannins in green tea work.
If a piece of woods old, it has probably already leached much of the acids out, the more newly cut from the tree, the more tannins acid will be released.
If you have Amazonian fish, tannins are desirable, because those tannic acids have an anti-bacterial component, and produce various stages of tea stained (black (Rio Negro type)) water.
The same way the tannins in green tea work.
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To give you a baseline, my pH from the tap is about 8.5. When my driftwood leached out enough tannins to turn my water brown (about 3 weeks, I was cycling who needs water changes) the ph was still 8.5. If you are more neutral it may have more of an affect, but at my ph and hardness it did squat.
If the buffering capacity (alkalinity) is high, the tannic acid can be neutralized before having any effect on pH.
However the antibacterial effect of the tannin is still there, and is useful for black water type fish.
I also have lots of logs in tanks, but because my tap water alkalinity is @ 100ppm, so very little effect on my pH.
The log toward the left side is over 3ft long and 6" in diameter.
However the antibacterial effect of the tannin is still there, and is useful for black water type fish.
I also have lots of logs in tanks, but because my tap water alkalinity is @ 100ppm, so very little effect on my pH.
The log toward the left side is over 3ft long and 6" in diameter.
Just like the last 2 posters, I can fill my tank to the brim with driftwood and it will have almost zero effect on my pH.
As others have said, the impact of driftwood on pH (i.e. the release of tannic acid) is primarily related to the alkalinity of the water.
Alkalinity is the capacity of water to neutralize acids. This capacity is caused by the water's content of carbonate, bicarbonate, hydroxide and occasionally borate, silicate and phosphate. pH is an expression of the intensity of the basic or acid condition of a liquid.
Alkalinity is the capacity of water to neutralize acids. This capacity is caused by the water's content of carbonate, bicarbonate, hydroxide and occasionally borate, silicate and phosphate. pH is an expression of the intensity of the basic or acid condition of a liquid.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and useful information. Didnt know about the antibacterial benefits.