# 150 gallon driftwood community (then and now)



## Vicdad999999 (Dec 18, 2012)

Just wanted to share...Filtered with 2 aquaclear 500s, a rena filstar xp3 canister, ancient magnum 350 cannister, and the ug filter. Fish inhabitants are 7 giant danios, 1 blue spot rasbora,3 australian rainbows, 3 silver dollars, 8 black skirt tetras, 9 cories, 2 bn plecos, and a clown pleco.

Earliest pic I have..Shark was moved to 125 opposite wall, floating wood had been floating at least a year.









sinking










sunk, bought some gouramis










returned gouramis, too nippy, added canopy










adding this driftwood










and this one i found year before










lots floating, had to stop wiping glass, algae was an issue here, but water moving risks breaking glass with all the wood floating about.










starting to sink, algae way out of control at this point










bn loves it










top down










finally all but the big one sunk. Re-arranged it and settled for this.



















So 2 big pieces, 1 is a softwood pine, other is a hardwood not sure the type, 7 pieces of mopani and no idea how many misc pieces of hard and softs. All the wood I use I cleaned and dried for a year before using in my tanks and fake plants and vines. Kinda liking it, its been this way since January. Thanks


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

Very nice tank


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## Vicdad999999 (Dec 18, 2012)

Thanks, thats behind my desk, I work from home. So I have something to stare at every now and then. I forgot, that string is attached to a rock I use for feeding the plecos so I dont have to keep going into the tank with my hands.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It looks really good. Keep an eye on the softwood, though. give it a poke every so often. I had one piece of "driftwood" disintegrate on me and make a real mess. It just suddenly got soft and crumbled.


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## Vicdad999999 (Dec 18, 2012)

Im very familiar with softwoods in my tanks. not so with hardwoods like the mopani. The mopani seems to be more delicate (slimey and brittle) and there smaller, cant just reach in and pull em out and cost money. i know the softwood needs to be handled with care, but alot of fish like to make homes in softwoods and the mopani i use just for decoration.. this one is in my 55, ive had about 8 years. is softwood. skunk botia loaches drilled holes in it and made homes. i set this tank up on opposite wall of where they were, skunks in the wood moving it.







this is the 120 upgrade in its place. still working on the grotto


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

I have alot of softwood in my tanks, the ABNs seem to like munching on it.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

plecos do no need wood. I just was amazed at the mess one piece made in my tank. I had to completely change the water twice. Is there any way to predict what wood will do?


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## Vicdad999999 (Dec 18, 2012)

you mean for tannins released? the one in the 55 is older than most i have so tannins arent a problem in that. the 150 though is heavily tannined but has been slowing down alot. I do 10 to 15 percent water changes every other day though. I added a3 smaller pieces of oak to another 55 and that slightly tinted the water. 









on fathers day my daughters took me out driftwood hunting and I found this 3rd big piece. was a hike and a half to get it back to the car. right now its in the drying phase. but im gonna soak it this winter and all next summer then redry it again before putting it in a 120 or a 125. 










the reason i dry everything thoroughly is my first time adding driftwood i thought i had cleaned well enough had introduced leeches into my tank and wiped out everything.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

before you dry the wood soak it in a tub and add 2 tablets of "Clout" per 10 gallons overnight...then rinse and soak in just water for a couple of hours..
either that or soak it in a bleach solution of 1 pint per 10 gallons overnight...that will kill any eggs hiding on the wood.


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