Roy Hunter
Co-Chairman
ANGFA of North America
visit the ANGFA website at:
http://www.angfa.org
reach me at:
roy at angfa.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff LeCates <JeffLeCates at classic.msn.com>
To: rainbowfish <rainbowfish at pcug.org.au>
Date: Monday, November 03, 1997 8:37 AM
Subject: RE: [RML] Driftwood
>I have 2 med.-lrg. pieces of Mopani wood in a well planted 75 gal. Rainbow
>tank. The wood makes a really nice focal point as well as great shelter for
my
>Plecos. But I am beginning to wonder if its worth the hassel... When I do
>weekly water changes at min. 25% and buffer the water with slightly weakend
>marine buffer which gets me to 7.5 ph and in a weeks time I have had ph as
low
>as 5.5. But more typicly 6.5. I know this up and down ph is not good but I
>dont have time to do more frequent water changes and I havent lost a 'bow
in 2
>years. It's just that I know I am forsaking ideal conditions for
aesthetics.
>Perhaps a suggestion on some variety of wood which has a less volatile
effect
>on water chemistry would be helpful... Also, I am fairly certain that the
>constant gnawing on the wood from the Flying Fox and Plecos exascerbates
the
>leaching of the wood.
>
>A very respectful 2 months of lurking and learning and I'm out in the open.
>Sincere thanks,
>Jeff LeCates
>In Dallas, TX where yesterday, the Cowboy dynasty officially fell.
>----------
>From: owner-rainbowfish at pcug.org.au on behalf of Roy Hunter
>Sent: Monday, November 03, 1997 10:38 AM
>To: rainbowfish
>Subject: [RML] Driftwood
>
>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
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>With all these replies on the driftwood subject we haven't heard from =
>anyone that had a bad experience with it. Most driftwood is just sun =
>bleached dead wood. The good stuff like what you get from them folks =
>down in Alabama is submerged wood. I have never heard of salt in the =
>wood before but I guess if you are getting it out of the ocean then you =
>have the salt.
>
>Most wood is toxic to some degree. I would say that an irritant is a =
>better way to describe it. Some are affected buy the dust more than =
>others. Some woods contain a high amount of silica so you can get =
>silicosis from the dust of the wood but it is not toxic to the fish. I =
>have used a lot of different wood to get different looks because each =
>wood has its own color under water. Walnut is nice if it doesn't have =
>any of the white sap wood. It gives you a nice Brown color. The iroko is =
>a nice red and pine gives you that nice brown/gray color. The harder the =
>wood the more suitable it is for the aquarium. Pine dissolves quickly =
>and things like walnut will last a very long long time and will dissolve =
>very slowly. If you doubt the piece, put it in a 5 gal bucket with a =
>goldfish and see what happens.
>
>Just like anything else when keeping fish, when you use wood you need to =
>keep up on the water changes. If you dont change a lot of water then =
>dont use the wood.
>
>Roy Hunter
>Co-Chairman=20
>ANGFA of North America
>visit the ANGFA website at:
>http://www.angfa.org
>reach me at:
>roy at angfa.org
>
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><HTML>
><HEAD>
>
><META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 =
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><BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
><DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"Americana BT">With all these replies =
>on the=20
>driftwood subject we haven't heard from anyone that had a bad experience =
>with=20
>it. Most driftwood is just sun bleached dead wood. The good stuff like =
>what you=20
>get from them folks down in Alabama is submerged wood. I have never =
>heard of=20
>salt in the wood before but I guess if you are getting it out of the =
>ocean then=20
>you have the salt.</FONT></DIV>
><DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"Americana BT"></FONT> </DIV>
><DIV><FONT face=3D"Americana BT">Most wood is toxic to some <FONT =
>color=3D#000000=20
>face=3DArial size=3D2>degree</FONT>. I would say that an irritant is a =
>better way to=20
>describe it. Some are affected buy the dust more than others. Some woods =
>contain=20
>a high amount of silica so you can get silicosis from the dust of the =
>wood but=20
>it is not toxic to the fish. I have used a lot of different wood to get=20
>different looks because each wood has its own color under water. Walnut =
>is nice=20
>if it doesn't have any of the white sap wood. It gives you a nice Brown =
>color.=20
>The iroko is a nice red and pine gives you that nice brown/gray color. =
>The=20
>harder the wood the more suitable it is for the aquarium. Pine dissolves =
>quickly=20
>and things like walnut will last a very long long time and will dissolve =
>very=20
>slowly. If you doubt the piece, put it in a 5 gal bucket with a goldfish =
>and see=20
>what happens.</FONT></DIV>
><DIV><FONT face=3D"Americana BT"></FONT> </DIV>
><DIV><FONT face=3D"Americana BT">Just like anything else when keeping =
>fish, when=20
>you use wood you need to keep up on the water changes. If you dont =
>change a lot=20
>of water then dont use the wood.</FONT></DIV>
><DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
><DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>Roy Hunter<BR>Co-Chairman <BR>ANGFA =
>of North=20
>America<BR>visit the ANGFA website at:<BR><A=20
>href=3D"http://www.angfa.org">http://www.angfa.org</A><BR>reach me =
>at:<BR><A=20
>href=3D"roy at angfa.org">roy at angfa.org</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML=
>>
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