Getting Pleco Soon Need Question Answered First.

[aquamike]

Hi everyone,

I am going to get a pleco soon. I was wondering if the bogwood that everyone suggests for plecos is the same as driftwood?

Thanks for the help,

Mike

 

[LisaLQ]

Nope, driftwood is the stuff you find washed up on the beach, bogwood is the stuff that's found in bogs. Driftwood is dry/white looking, bogwood is dark brown and looks like it's been soaking ...erm...in a bog. Driftwood is not suitable for plecs, bogwood's perfect

Erm. Hope that came out right. Reading it back it sounds like I'm taking the pee, but I'm not - just dont know how to say it any better

 

[aquamike]

Nope, driftwood is the stuff you find washed up on the beach, bogwood is the stuff that's found in bogs. Driftwood is dry/white looking, bogwood is dark brown and looks like it's been soaking ...erm...in a bog. Driftwood is not suitable for plecs, bogwood's perfect

Erm. Hope that came out right. Reading it back it sounds like I'm taking the pee, but I'm not - just dont know how to say it any better

Thanks Lisa. I am glad i asked. I didn't think that there was a difference.

 

[aquamike]

Nope, driftwood is the stuff you find washed up on the beach, bogwood is the stuff that's found in bogs. Driftwood is dry/white looking, bogwood is dark brown and looks like it's been soaking ...erm...in a bog. Driftwood is not suitable for plecs, bogwood's perfect

Erm. Hope that came out right. Reading it back it sounds like I'm taking the pee, but I'm not - just dont know how to say it any better

Thanks Lisa. I am glad i asked. I didn't think that there was a difference.

I went to a LFS today and asked for bogwood, not driftwood. The store owner said in the 35 years she has been in business, she has never heard of bogwood. She said that she has sold driftwood to people wanting wood for their plecos.

I guess i need to keep going to different shops until i find it. I did see in her shop a dark looking piece of wood that was labeled driftwood. Dark brown. It said driftwood, so i left it alone.

Any thoughts or advice finding some bogwood would be appreciated,
Mike

 

[nmonks]

It depends on the plec. For plecs other than Panaque spp., use whatever wood you want. Even though they ingest it, they don't digest it, and all it does is act as a kind of fibre.

Panaque spp. on the other hand digest the wood they eat. I'm not altogether convinced it matters what kind of wood, since all wood is made of the same chemical, lignin, and all Panaque spp. use bacteria in their guts to break this stuff down. I know that some people have strong opinions on this, and maybe even the catfish have preferred flavours of wood! My Panaque spp. has regular bogwood to eat (the generic dark brown stuff) as well as a bunch of waterlogged sticks and branches I pulled out of a local stream. She loves the variety, I think, and tries a little of each through the day.

Cheers, Neale

 

[aquamike]

It depends on the plec. For plecs other than Panaque spp., use whatever wood you want. Even though they ingest it, they don't digest it, and all it does is act as a kind of fibre.

Panaque spp. on the other hand digest the wood they eat. I'm not altogether convinced it matters what kind of wood, since all wood is made of the same chemical, lignin, and all Panaque spp. use bacteria in their guts to break this stuff down. I know that some people have strong opinions on this, and maybe even the catfish have preferred flavours of wood! My Panaque spp. has regular bogwood to eat (the generic dark brown stuff) as well as a bunch of waterlogged sticks and branches I pulled out of a local stream. She loves the variety, I think, and tries a little of each through the day.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks Neale for your thoughts. I plan to get a pair of gold nuggets or one gold nugget and a snowball.