• Woods are buoyant and may need to be soaked to become waterlogged to sink.

 

• Woods may need to be temporarily weighed down to avoid buoyancy by using rocks, anchors, etc until the wood is waterlogged enough to completely to sink.

 

• Woods may release tannins during initial setup. Tannins brings a cognac look to the water, as happens in natural rivers and water systems. You can control the amount of tannins in water by frequent water changes or using Seachem Purigen in your filter. Tannins are not harmful to aquarium living organisms.

 

• If you want to avoid tannins on the initial phase you can boil the wood in water for few hours to release as many tannins as possible or simply soak and perform water changes until you are happy.

 

• Moulds and biofilms may appear during the initial stage. It looks like a white fungus on top of the woods. If it occurs, scrape and suction it out with a small tube frequently. Normally it will disappear naturally one month after initial setup.

 

• Woods may decrease the pH level in water.