Is Manzanita driftwood safe for guppies?

[landonjacob]

I picked out two large pieces of manzanita driftwood I found from a supplier on Etsy, for my 40 gallon breeder style aquarium I’m planning to breed a colony of full red albino guppies in. I heard it leaches LESS tannins than some other woods but wanted to make sure it’s ok to add driftwood to aquariums that house hard water fish? Or does driftwood, especially large pieces make the water TOO soft for hard water fish? Any advice or recommendations? I’m really hoping to scape the setup with driftwood, plants and moss to go for a more natural look but of course the health and safety of the fish is the most important. Can the two go together?

 

[MaloK]

Yes there is no problem, the harder the water, smaller the impact, in fact to have a noticeable effect you would need to have water that is already pretty soft to start with.

Leave the tank running with the piece of wood and change some water if the tint become too thick. It will have a tendency to create fungus and diatoms in the first weeks.

But compared to Vine it's a lot harder and more mold resistant, it's chemically non reactive and you should be able to enjoy the natural look for many years.

 

[landonjacob]

Yes there is no problem, the harder the water, smaller the impact, in fact to have a noticeable effect you would need to have water that is already pretty soft to start with.

Leave the tank running with the piece of wood and change some water if the tint become too thick. It will have a tendency to create fungus and diatoms in the first weeks.

But compared to Vine it's a lot harder and more mold resistant, it's chemically non reactive and you should be able to enjoy the natural look for many years.

Thank you for your time replying! I had originally mistakenly purchased grapevine at the pet store a few days ago.. I had no idea about soft woods for reptiles, I saw the amazing price and jumped on it lol.

I plan on soaking the wood for one week before adding it to the setup and like you said changing the water out a few times. Shouldn’t things like purigen by seachem annd activated carbon also help with tannins? I hear it releases less tannins than other woods but I just wanted to make sure if was SAFE for my guppies. My albino full reds can be really sensitive and I’m just hoping the PH isn’t up and down too much from the two pieces of driftwood releasing tannins and water changes. I’m going to try to get it stable before adding them to their upgrade.

Also, everyone says to boil your driftwood first.. what do people do with large 30 inch pieces? Only soak?

 

[CassCats]

Large ones you can pour boiling water on them, but if it's from the store you don't need to boil or bake, they're safe enough to go right in. You may need to anchor it though to a piece of slate to keep it weighed down for awhile

 

[MaloK]

Soak it only, I'm positive that manzanita wont leach that much. today I would only boil a piece of wood found outside, to make sure it's disinfected. Commercial wood already been cured doe's not need that treatment.

While some peoples mention that boiling is not good for the integrity of the wood, I have boiled mopani that is more than 35 years old that has been munched upon by plecs for decades and it still looks amazing.

But boiling it made the first years more difficult, the nutrient release was faster and the thing became a diatom producer.

Last year I started a new tank and used another mopani piece that I didn't boil, It took 8 months before things settles down. Note that the piece in question is very thick and wide, it takes around a fifth of the volume of the tank.

The first months where a total mess. the water became black and diatoms grown all around it and littered the whole bottom of the tank.

But who cares, it was fishless cycling at that time.

 

[landonjacob]

Large ones you can pour boiling water on them, but if it's from the store you don't need to boil or bake, they're safe enough to go right in. You may need to anchor it though to a piece of slate to keep it weighed down for awhile

I found them on Etsy actually. They’ve been sandblasted to my knowledge but I still pour boiling water on them before soaking them? Thank you!

 

[landonjacob]

Soak it only, I'm positive that manzanita wont leach that much. today I would only boil a piece of wood found outside, to make sure it's disinfected. Commercial wood already been cured doe's not need that treatment.

While some peoples mention that boiling is not good for the integrity of the wood, I have boiled mopani that is more than 35 years old that has been munched upon by plecs for decades and it still looks amazing.

But boiling it made the first years more difficult, the nutrient release was faster and the thing became a diatom producer.

Last year I started a new tank and used another mopani piece that I didn't boil, It took 8 months before things settles down. Note that the piece in question is very thick and wide, it takes around a fifth of the volume of the tank.

The first months where a total mess. the water became black and diatoms grown all around it and littered the whole bottom of the tank.

But who cares, it was fishless cycling at that time.

I’m putting the wood into a setup I’m “auto cycling” by using filter media from my other setups. Does the water being cycled or not cycled speed up or decrease that ugly fungus stage? How long do you think mine will be ugly and fungus covered if I soak it a week prior and place it into a cycled setup? And the wood should be completely safe for a guppy only focused tank? It won’t decrease the PH too much? Thank you for your help by the way! I really appreciate you guys!

 

[MaloK]

If it's been sandblasted, rinse it in hot water and give it a good brushing to remove sandblasting media. The hot water will dilate the wood grain and help release the sand from it.

If you don't want to use your tank to soak it, "in case something goes wack"...

I use trash bin to soak big pieces. Deeper under water = Faster it will log. And replace water and brush as needed.