Mopani Vs Bogwood

[Paul70]

I want to get some wood for my 98l tank in order to help reduce my pH. I have heard that bogwood is good but what about mopani wood. will it do the same things or is one better than the other?

 

[spectrum]

They will both do the same job, although I think Mopani releases the acids more slowly. Its down to personal taste really, whatever you think would look nice. What sort of rocks do you have there? Some rocks will raise the pH.

 

[snowflake311]

They will both do the same job, although I think Mopani releases the acids more slowly. Its down to personal taste really, whatever you think would look nice. What sort of rocks do you have there? Some rocks will raise the pH.

they are not the same. Bogwood the real stuff has been soaked in peat bogs for a very longtime and it's te peat that makes the ph go a little lower. I have lots of wood and a few kinds it does nothing for the ph well maybe .2 differance but nothing that the fish will care about.

I you want to lower your ph get some Peatmoss that will help much more then just wood. Or get an ro filter. Most fish adapt really well and will be fine in a ph of 7-8.5 .

What kind of fish do you want to keep and what is your ph?

Also it depends on how much buffer you have in the water to effect the ph. It's better to not mess with it.

 

[Paul70]

I am not going to mess with pH using chemicals and the like as I am in a hard water area (although not exactly sure what my tds is). I will get some bogwood and see what that does but am going to wait a while and see if the pH settles by itself. It is encouraging to hear that the fish will be ok up to 8.5.

Todays water test came out at 8.1 with ammonia at 0.25ppm and nitrites 0 so I need to let the tank mature some more. My stock is currently a mix of green tiger barbs and puntius partipentazona and 1 RTBS. they seem to get on well though they all prefer more subdued lighting and really come out to play when i just have 2 stick on led lights shining the feeding hatch. they love it!

 

[MBOU]

I would put my money on your 2 white rocks at least in buffering your pH up. I know that pinky rock too, i think last time i used it, if effected pH too.

 

[Paul70]

i vinegar tested all 3 and the only 1 that fizzed was the right rock. I had all rocks out of the tank for 8 hours and pH didn't alter at all. the fish were getting distressed so put the rainbow rock and the left one back in to create a shelter. wondering however if these 2 rocks are non-reactive to vinegar but are still buffering the pH up cos I know this is possible.

Will get some bogwood this week I think and just remove the rocks altogether. does it take a while for pH to drop once rocks are removed?

 

[Danbarb]

On a similar note, my tank has two bits of bogwood in and stays at around 6.6-6.8. I had this white rock, that fizzed a little with vinegar and when I put this in the tank, it literally reacted with the water and released gas. My PH went up to 7.6. This rock wasn't even that big. Took it out again, and PH after a few water changes and about a week went back down to 7, then 6.8 and stayed there.

It is possible I guess that even just one rock can buffer your PH up that high. I try to imitate the same PH that the fish I have get in the wild or there, or there abouts. Yes, barbs will do OK in a higher PH but for me I want them to feel that they could breed (if they want to) and that is normally on the slightly acidic side of PH 7.

Just my 2 pence worth. Also, I did notice you saying you'd like to breed some barbs previously on another post hence me posting this. I personally prefer bogwood and the style and look to rocks - but that's just my preference.

I do like your rocks though tbh.

Each to their own I guess! (PS my PH of my tapwater is 8.2 and hard water I am from south east England). When I originally setup my tank the PH dropped to 7.2ish from 8 or so after a week of having bogwood.

 

[snowflake311]

I missed the photo before . That rock does look looks it could be a kind of lime stone and if so and if you got the fizz that could be the reason for ph staying high.

This is a new tank? You sound like you are Doing a fish in cycle?? Because you should have NO ammonia in the tank if is it fully cycled.

Yes water can and will drop if you age the water. A cycled tank will lower the ph a bit.

 

[Paul70]

i did a fishless cycle for 3 weeks but before i introduced fish i had been getting amm & nitrites to zero in 12 hours for 7 days.

the 0.25 ammonia has been since i put my fish in

 

[raptorrex]

I want to get some wood for my 98l tank in order to help reduce my pH. I have heard that bogwood is good but what about mopani wood. will it do the same things or is one better than the other?

you could fill your tank with bog wood and it would have little effect on the PH of your water. however little it is, it will last for only a short time.

 

[Squidward]

i vinegar tested all 3 and the only 1 that fizzed was the right rock. I had all rocks out of the tank for 8 hours and pH didn't alter at all. the fish were getting distressed so put the rainbow rock and the left one back in to create a shelter. wondering however if these 2 rocks are non-reactive to vinegar but are still buffering the pH up cos I know this is possible.

Will get some bogwood this week I think and just remove the rocks altogether. does it take a while for pH to drop once rocks are removed?

Just because a rock doesn't fizz doesn't mean it won't have any affect on your ph. It could be leaching into the water very slowly.

Also, 8 hours isn't really a significant amount of time for the ph to change. In fact, the ph wouldn't change much until you do a water change and add some water with a lower ph to the system. Otherwise it will just remain the same.

Don't think taking the rocks out would have caused distress to your fish due to change in water conditions in such a short period of time. More likely because you had changed their environment and their territories were changed.