Bog Wood

[gangeox]

Hi everyone, although new to this forum i used to keep tropicals many many years ago (20 odd) and my girlfriend and i are starting out again and have a question: when i used bogwood the water was tinged red and this looked fantastic and can honestly say that i did not have any fish die, is having the water tinged red acceptable practice?

 

[voo]

The water is coloured by tannins leaking from the wood, it's harmless to the fish and some do let it leak to give the fish some colour

 

[Dave Spencer]

Tetra fish will love it! The tannins will make the water acidic for them.

 

[DJ Fresh]

Also, Plecs love them a lot. My pleco was having a hard time with life until he got a log to suck on. Now he's really healthy!

 

[gangeox]

Thanks for the replies, so am i correct in thinking that all bog wood will give of this tannin and do i have to take this into account when choosing fish?
When i kept fish may years ago i must have been very lucky to have no problems with unhealthy/dying fish i used an under gravel filter and and didnt know about ph levels etc, but this time i will take more care and follow the 'rules'

 

[Lynz781]

Yeah, fish that are happy in the acid range of pH should live with bogwood. There lots of profiles on fish on the net that will give you information like this. I have bog and drift wood for my pristella tetras (stunningly healthy in my opinion ) and clown plec.