# Can p's die from driftwood?



## hitler (Jun 4, 2006)

I had a fish that went under recently... my 9" diamond rhom... anyways the water levels were as close to perfect as possible. I just bought a large piece of driftwood and I did soak it for like half a day and then put it in my tank. the wood still leaked out that stuff and well when I woke up I found a dead p in my tank and the water was discolored. could that be the reason? I had the water temp at 78 degrees. First time this has happened to me and I want to blame the stupid wood..


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

The tanins themselves cannot kill fish. What may have happened though was a drastic change in ph levels that shocked the fish's system. That's my biggest guess... Or the driftwood wasn't properly sterilized and was carrying something harmful on it.

Tanins themselves simply discolour the water, soften it and ultimately drop the ph. Piranhas actually, in general, like this as it helps to bring water params nearer to what they know in the wild.


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## Rice & Beanz (Oct 30, 2006)

First , you need to prepare the driftwood by boiling it and stuff. There should be a post on this forum that shows you how to do it before you put it in....http://www.piranha-fury.com/information/article.php?id=26


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## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

not sure if that sh*t's harmful, my buddy tossed some into one of his hex tanks....the thing turned a tinge of red...looked pretty wicked IMO..but yeah im sure there are proper ways to clean drift


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

The tea coloured water is a result of tanins being released from the wood. That's not harmful.


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

should have boiled it like 2 or 3 times before putting it in IMO.


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## Dairy Whip (Mar 26, 2006)

did you not buy this wood. i thought it sounded liek you did and if so then i wouldent worry about boiling it. so i dont thtink thats what did the harm. must have been the rise in PH


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

As everyone else has stated, the coloring that leaches out is usually just harmless tanins.

_*Topic Moved to Water Chemistry Forum*_


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## mujaman (Oct 31, 2006)

It would be a strage coincidence that your fish would die the same time you put in wood... so I would probably blame the wood. However, no parasite could have killed your fish that quickly... and I doubt the wood would have that drastic of an effect on pH (even so... it usually helps the water for the p's as stated earlier). Maybe there was some sort of chemical or pollutant on the log...


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## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

Dairy Whip said:


> did you not buy this wood. i thought it sounded liek you did and if so then i wouldent worry about boiling it. so i dont thtink thats what did the harm. must have been the rise in PH


i think i read around that even sh*t u buy from stores you should still boil it just to be safe??...could be wrong, could be right


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

itstheiceman said:


> did you not buy this wood. i thought it sounded liek you did and if so then i wouldent worry about boiling it. so i dont thtink thats what did the harm. must have been the rise in PH


i think i read around that even sh*t u buy from stores you should still boil it just to be safe??...could be wrong, could be right
[/quote]
Yes, but the main reason you boil the driftwood from the local fish store is just to release most of the tannins so they don't leech as much into your fish tank.








~Taylor~


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## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

thats a huge reason why id say people say to boil they're stuff, sure it gives it a nice looking effect when everything leach's off but still


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

first of all.......where did you get or find the wood???????
did you pick it out of your back yard or walk around and found it in some water?

was it water logged? may questions i am asking because you CAN NOT use just
any wood!!!! it has to be water logged, naturaly cleaned if coming from the water
IE rivers and if water logged you really do not need to boil, lemon juice and a scrubb
brush will do just fine.......ive used and still used this method and still have all of
the wood i have ever found from our lakes and rivers here in WA.

what happened to you sounds like you had some sap, pulp something inside leak out
(tannins do not harm your fish)


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## mylesc99 (Sep 5, 2005)

The wood he used in the tank was Malaysian Driftwood. He bought it from a petstore called Pets Inc. in Phoenix, AZ. He didn't boil the wood, he just soaked it.


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

i dought the wood was the issue, unless it was in contact with something else from
the LFS.........i have used and still do malasian or mopani wood right from a trusted
LFS right into my tank and have never herd of this.........kinda strange


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