African Cichlids and Driftwood?!?

Question

Can African Cichlids live in a tank with driftwood?

Answer 1

yes they can you should cure the wood before adding it to the tank

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jon v is so off the wall with his increaseing the hardness of the water if you cure the wood before it is placed into the tank then it will have little or no affect on the waters ph levels

Answer 2

I would agree with Jon V in this case.  He's helped me out many times in the past.  I've seen too many of riffle's answers that looked like he doesn't know what he's talking about.  I agree, using driftwood, should not be a problem.

Answer 3

Yes they can.  Most likely you're wondering this because driftwood tends to emit tannins into the water and thus softening it.  This is true, however, consider this.  You can bulk up your hardness to compensate for this factor.  I employ use of African Rift Lake salts and Buffer max when I do water changes, and this would well counter act any tannins going into the water.  Another thing to consider is the fact that after about 5-6 months of in the tank, the majority of tannins would have been leeched out by then as it is.  So yeah, add away.  Just make sure you cure it, and for the first six months or so, really add some hardness salts.  I've got driftwood in my main tank of Africans, going on a year and a half now.

Anyone that is not brain dead would know that keeping Africans, most of the time you need that extra hardness as it is.  Then again, intelligence isn't something that being a human being makes it an automatic thing.  Sometimes you just have to look over the previous answers and experiences of the person to know when someone knows what they are talking about, and when someone has a 50 IQ.