fecat Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 is it advisable to put a driftwood into a EY and EB tank? its a 4x2x1.5 in size. Reason i am asking is that the driftwood will soften the hardness of the water. I got crushed marble chip to buffer the ph and the current ph is about 7.5. I have the hardness kit to test but I am to lazy to test the hardness cos it takes so long... My EB seem reluctant to breed but my yellow is breeding crazily. any comment? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Test the hardness. It does not take that long and it will enable you to make an informed decision regarding hardness rather than just guessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novafishy Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 I had a 3ft piece of driftwood in my 4ft tank with africans. Everything seemed fine and hardness was still up, so was the pH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndoboi Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 My 4footer has rampant breeding Cyps and lots of driftwood (to keep the L104s happy). No problems with water quality! Cheers Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I think the simple answer is you know what the wood has the potential to do to your water - so don't use it. What happens if your KH drops, that will be the only thing maintaining your pH. What happens if it drops when you're away for a few days? There is a risk involved, with no benefit other than astatic values for yourself. Put your fish ahead of your own desires, and take the risk out. If you had plecos, then you would have a reason for your risk. Otherwise - KISS. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I have wood in a few of my Malawi tanks...primarily the ones with Ps. acei and yellows. I enjoy watching (and they enjoy) grazing the algae. If the tanks are properly buffered/maintained/monitored I can't see a problem. Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_1 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 i have wood in all my tanks mainly because i have BN in all of them. and also for looks. over time i have not noticed all change in my water quality no change in the hardness or the PH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colfish Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 the current ph is about 7.5. I have the hardness kit to test but I am to lazy to test the hardness cos it takes so long... ← c'mon fecat, 30seconds max, for this test. my tap water is ph 7.2 and 3dg hard. so maybe the crushed marble is only just holding the buffer, but not much room for error. if your happy with the e/yellows breeding, but the e/blues not, just do it. but basic yr6 rocket sience is not difficult. malawi do enjoy a bit of general hardness in the water ultimately, your choice cheersC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fecat Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 the current ph is about 7.5. I have the hardness kit to test but I am to lazy to test the hardness cos it takes so long... ← c'mon fecat, 30seconds max, for this test. my tap water is ph 7.2 and 3dg hard. so maybe the crushed marble is only just holding the buffer, but not much room for error. if your happy with the e/yellows breeding, but the e/blues not, just do it. but basic yr6 rocket sience is not difficult. malawi do enjoy a bit of general hardness in the water ultimately, your choice cheersC ← other reason I put the wood is that I have some BNs in there. I will consider to take them out. How often do you need to test the hardness and what is the prefer hardness for africian? I do my water change at least once a week. I have seachem malawi buffer but i rarely use them. thanks for all the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_1 Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 the wood wont make and server changes to your water my yellows are in a tank with lots of wood and they still breed fine and the water is fine. i no that everyone says that wood afects your water and maybe it does but not much to remove the wood. and yellows and blues dont mind have wood in the tank and im sure the BN love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTR73 Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Your E.yellows and Blues will like PH 7.8 to 8.6 and want the water extremely hard - my understanding is GH (General Hardness) needs to be 12-14, while the KH (Carbonate Hardness) also around 12-14. If you can get close to this your Lake Malawi Africans will love you (and each other) forever. I'm more the opinion that, if you try keep the water parameters to their liking you have more chance of fish with better colours, better health and healthy behaviour, not to mention better success with breeding. Sure it's a pain in the butt to stuff around with the buffering etc etc, and Africans are that robust they'll survive and even breed in less than ideal water parameters no worries at all, but you get the most from them when the water is closer to Lake conditions. So keep the log in there if you want, or perhaps turf it for one of those artificle clay ones, but for sure start using the Seachem Malawi buffer salts you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngy_11 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Yea I would go with the wood. Just be reagy for a yellow tinge to the tank for a while but the wood won't do anything drastic to the water. Just keep up the usually regulary water changes. thanks ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nooks Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 I have yellows and blues in a tank with crushed quartz and crushed coral substrate with mangrove root driftwood. Both the yellows and blues breed very regularly. I don't regularly add buffers but do keep up the water changes. The driftwood has been in the tank for over 4 years though... So it is possible to breed both with driftwood in the tank. Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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