Boiling Wood..

[Voorhee]

Heya all its me again lol..

I have another question..

I want my water to have a tint of brown to it.. i really like the colours of the fish with it..

but i've read that is can get pretty dark...

So i was wondering if i boil the wood.. and lessen the tannin do i lose the low ph it provides?

i need that too.. lol.. my ph is 7.6... im going for 7.2 lol..

 

[The-Wolf]

Hi there
read this
wood

 

[Voorhee]

does wood always lower ph? or does that effect wear off??

i want to use wood as a natural ph lowerer...

 

[FishDan]

It depends on a number of factors, mostly being in your water's chemsitry. It may cause your pH to lower. It may not. And how much is variable as well.

\Dan

 

[CFC]

Whether or not adding wood to the tank will lower the pH significantly depends on the KH (carbonate hardness) of your water. Most city water supplies have a high KH which provides a natural buffer against the effects of bogwood but those who live in rural areas will probably find their water has a low KH so the pH can drop to as low as 6.
The effectiveness of bogwood as a water softener/acidifier does lessen in time and those using this method will need to periodicly add new pieces to the tank, this can only be told by regular testing of the pH and GH of the water.