Tannins and Red Cherry shrimp....

hb3133 · Post by **hb3133** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:03 pm

Are tannins from bogwood harmful to red cherry shrimp?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:57 pm

The problem with bog wood is it tends to make the water acidic and cherries don't do well in acidic water.

YuccaPatrol · Post by **YuccaPatrol** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:07 pm

My 15 gallon cherry tank has two large pieces of bog wood that I collected myself. My water stays at a constant 7.2 or so.

Any new piece of wood that I collect goes into a tub full of water in the basement for a few months to leach out any significant amount of tannins before I introduce it to my tank.

If you are purchasing wood, then you should definitely age it in water for a good amount of time. Some people boil the wood to speed the process, but I am concerned that the heat of boiling causes degradation of the wood fibers and may decrease the longevity of the wood (this is my opinion only)