Malaysian driftwood vs PH levels

[Kats]

More questions!!!   

I have been doing lots of research on plants and cycling.  In my reading, I saw a few comments about malaysian driftwood being a "natural" PH controller.... did I interpret this right or is there something more to it?

It seems that our 46g tank will have a "cretaceous" theme.  Big T-rex skull with some fossilized wood...  a nice piece of driftwood will fit in there very nicely.

So, is it "urban myth" about the malaysian driftwood or is it a fact?   

[fischkopp]

its true: it will drop the pH and it will give your water a yellow/brownish tint. this is because its releasing humic acids into the water column.

How much the pH drops depends on tank size, amount of wood and its age. Example: I have a 20g, running for about 3 months, with 4 large pieces of driftwood. The pH drops from 9 to <5, may be even <4, haven't measured for a while.

[BigDaddy]

Also depends on how often you do a water change... weekly water changes will remove tannins and bring the pH closer to tap again.  For example, fischkopp's drop in pH is likely fairly long term, you aren't going to see those kind of changes doing weeklys.

[Kats]

its true: it will drop the pH and it will give your water a yellow/brownish tint. this is because its releasing humic acids into the water column.

Oh....  that is nice to know.  I don't think I want a yellow/brownish tint

Also depends on how often you do a water change... weekly water changes will remove tannins and bring the pH closer to tap again.

are "tannins" what make the water yellow/brownish?

[babblefish1960]

Yes tannins are what make the colour, the effect of which can be moderated with small frequent water changes, but quite honestly, the colour is in no way offensive, and seems quite natural.

[fischkopp]

Also depends on how often you do a water change... weekly water changes will remove tannins and bring the pH closer to tap again.  For example, fischkopp's drop in pH is likely fairly long term, you aren't going to see those kind of changes doing weeklys.

Yeah, I must say my example was an extreme case with having A LOT of wood in a quite small tank. Even with weekly WC the pH settles around 6.

If you will have the "normal" amount of maybe 1-2 pieces for a 46g  the pH change will be moderate only and the tanning almost not noticeable after a while. 

[Kats]

Wow.... my brain hurts!!!  More decisions to make...   

I'm sure it won't feel as bad once I have my tank and can physically do something with it but for now all I seem to be doing is research and planning and more research and more planning and some window shopping and some classified ads shopping and more research......   

Is it all the driftwood that has those tannins or only the ones that are darker?  Do they all help regulate PH or is that only a propriety of the malaysian wood?

[babblefish1960]

Most woods, even North American soft whitewoods (spruce pine fir ) will affect the water chemistry by lowering the pH to some degree over time through the leaching of tannins.

It isn't a problem really, unless you need an alkaline pH, then merely add something to the tank to counteract, such as limestone, calcium or coral and shells.

[dan2x38]

I never noticed a difference in pH between these 2 woods but I found Mopani wood made my tank a little darker than the Malaysian wood. I used Mopani in one tank and it was quite nice a more natural look but it does change after awhile it lightens back up again... the Malaysian was of lesser affect in another tank... no matter the wood is a nice affect to the aquascape period plus nice to tie plants too...

Hey research & window shoppings is great with big pay-offs in the end but not cash wise... LMAO