# Tannis from driftwood



## Flear (Oct 5, 2012)

curiosity on the 'shelf-life' of driftwood in a tank

i could guess there isn't enough tannis to last the life of the tank

i could guess what tannis is in the driftwood will leach out into the water and not be replaced in the wood when it's gone.

i know certain pleco's have a diet that requires wood (not all but some)

and there's pH things and the rest of it going on with driftwood/tannis/tannic acid ... 

curiosity.

aside from people being unsettled by the tea color this can turn the water.

i have heard mention of tannic acid being beneficial to tanks (including from somewhere dianna walstad) - if unsure and you know a little, go with the biggest name in the hobby you know of that has mentioned it 

anyway.

am i worrying too much about having tannic acid ?
is this something i could consider replacing driftwood on a regular basis if there is a bonus ?
is this something i should stop worrying about ?

if replacing it for any benefits it may have, ... how often ?
1 year ?, 6mo ? 2 years ?

i dono, just fishing for answers to a sudden curiosity


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

I've always had a chunk of your basic LFS wood screwed to a piece of slate in my tank. Sometimes for 10+ years. I no longer do plecos and I've not thought about it at all. Interesting.... Waiting to see what the other members say about this.


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## henningc (May 20, 2013)

I use mostly strip tanks and put driftwood in about half of them. I have some odd types of fish, so making territory is the reason.

I previously had driftwood in a tank for over 6 years. I get my own driftwood and cure it myself. It makes an interesting side project for the fishroom and can net you a few bucks. I have some rootwad pieces that are 55gal size and would run you several hundred dollars to purchase. Just food for thought.

Tannis will not harm the tank inhabitants unless they require a high P.H. Carbon will take out the color ASAP if it bothers you. If you want more tannis, just use peat moss in the filter bed. Many wild bettas require this.

If you want to know how to get and cure your own driftwood, P.M. me.


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## mcompagno (Feb 27, 2013)

henningc said:


> I use mostly strip tanks and put driftwood in about half of them. I have some odd types of fish, so making territory is the reason.
> 
> I previously had driftwood in a tank for over 6 years. I get my own driftwood and cure it myself. It makes an interesting side project for the fishroom and can net you a few bucks. I have some rootwad pieces that are 55gal size and would run you several hundred dollars to purchase. Just food for thought.
> 
> ...


The other thing to think about is that if your PH drops below 6, your biofiltration bacteria will die off


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