Do Butterfly Plecos NEED driftwood?

[Coreylynn7]

Hi! I bought a butterfly pleco today and he has been acclimated and in my tank for over 7 hours now, and I've been reading up on him. I can't find a definitive answer on whether or not his species actually needs driftwood to survive? I have a good amount of algae built up on my walls and some rocks, and I dropped in a algae wafer about an hour ago. I'm going to leave it in overnight and see if he's eaten any of it. But can anybody please tell me if I need to get this little guy some wood or not? And if I do can you please explain why exactly he needs it? Thank you in advance!

[Jools]

I can't find a definitive answer on whether or not his species actually needs driftwood to survive?

Dekeyseria

spp. do not need wood in the tank.

Jools

[pleconut]

Thanks Jools, helpful to know, been thinking of getting some of these myself soon.

[Coreylynn7]

Thank you, Jools! Good to know its not necessary for his survival. It'd just be more of a treat for him, then? And can anyone tell if if adding driftwood to my tank will cause any unwanted reactions? Would I have to add new chemicals to compensate? I also heard that driftwood leeches something, but I don't remember what it's called. :/

[Forester]

Driftwood often leeches tannins which will lower the pH somewhat. I have lots of it in all of my pleco tanks and they seem to like it. The lower pH is closer to what they would have in the amazon.

[Jools]

The lower pH is closer to what they would have in the amazon.

That isn't true, it's variable. The Amazon basin is a rather large area and you don't find any of the Dekeyseria spp. that we're talking about in the Amazon main channel. Also, the OP may, or may not, have naturally soft water.

In terms of keeping these species, it depends on which one you're keeping. Some of the black water ones will like lower pH, and so if you use bogwood to lower pH then fine. Just keep an eye on it, it won't leach tannins forever.

Jools

[2wheelsx2]

That isn't true, it's variable. The Amazon basin is a rather large area and you don't find any of the Dekeyseria spp. that we're talking about in the Amazon main channel. Also, the OP may, or may not, have naturally soft water.

In terms of keeping these species, it depends on which one you're keeping. Some of the black water ones will like lower pH, and so if you use bogwood to lower pH then fine. Just keep an eye on it, it won't leach tannins forever.

Jools

Jools is right on there. I was at the confluence of the Rio Tapajos and the Amazon last spring and you can even see the difference in the colour of the water. The Rio Tapajos has a much lower sediment load and the water is much whiter and the water seems to be a bit higher in pH and the water harder than the Amazon itself which was roiling in brown sediment. BTW, I did not measure those parameters, this is just based on the seat of my scientific pants from washing in the Tapajos for 6 days compared to the water in Santarem.