Plants and new driftwood?

[aquarinut]

I've just bought a new piece of driftwood and was wondering if the tannins will harm plants. (Java fern in particular) Can I just tie the plants on and then put the driftwood in or should I soak the wood for awhile before doing so?

Thanks for any help :D

[AngelMom]

Nope, the tannins won't hurt plants or fish ... they'll just color your water. ;)

[oscarbartoni]

As far as tying the plants on the driftwood it depends on what kind of plants that you are interested in tying on. If it is not soaked it will float and that might not be good for the plants to be that close to the lights so I would either soak it or find a way to weigh it down.

[abugg]

Just a quick question to add to this post if it's not too late...

I bought some driftwood a long time ago but haven't put it in my tank because i read somewhere that I should seal it first with some sort of chemical, is this true? or can I just rinse it off and put it straight into the tank from the pet store?

any opinions welcome!

Thanks!

[AngelMom]

Huh? No, you don't need to seal it. You can rinse it off and place it in your tank, though I'd recommend placing it in a bucket of water first to make sure it will stay sunk ... sometimes they float if they are too dried out and need to stay in a bucket awhile until they get waterlogged. ;)