Aquarium driftwood
Description
Driftwood is one of the most useful decor elements in a freshwater aquarium. Suitable woods: mangrove, manzanita, Malaysian driftwood, mopani, azalea. Avoid: resinous conifers, oak (without weeks of soaking), apple (leaches strong tannins).
Driftwood's role goes beyond aesthetics: useful biofilter bacteria colonize it, and it releases tannins (humic acids) into the water, creating 'blackwater' — the natural biotope of the Amazon and Southeast Asia. Several species (ancistrus, plecos) rasp cellulose — for them, driftwood is mandatory.
Pros and cons
- Natural shelter and substrate for biofilm
- Releases tannins — soft 'blackwater' for Amazon/Southeast Asian species
- Essential dietary fiber for wood-rasping catfish (Ancistrus, Hypostomus)
- Perfect surface for mounting anubias, bolbitis, and mosses
- Gets more decorative with age (biofilm, algae patina)
- Fresh driftwood floats — needs 2–4 weeks of soaking or weighting down
- Tannins tint the water amber (a downside for bright-themed tanks)
- Without soaking, can grow a white biofilm in the first weeks
- Lowers pH — unsuitable for hard-water biotopes (Tanganyika)
Best used for
- Amazon and Southeast Asian biotope aquariums
- Keeping wood-rasping species (Ancistrus, any suckermouth catfish)
- Mounting epiphytic plants (anubias, bolbitis, java moss)
- Shelter for shy catfish and bettas