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Do you guys put treated wood in your tanks as drift wood, or can you just go out in the wood and pick up a piece?

And if I do put real forest wood in my tank do I need to worry about debri in my tank, in my filter, or any unwanted fungal growth?

Thanks
Dusitn

You can go out and just pick up wood, but there a few things you must do first:

1. Make sure that it has come in contact with NO pesticide, herbicide, etc. Since this is usually difficult to do, using river driftwood is a good option.

2. Once you find a piece of wood to use, either boil it or bake it to kill any organisms/parasites it may be harboring.

3. If you don't want the tannins in your tank, soak it for a LONG time in warm water (days, maybe even weeks. Basically until the water doesn't turn brown).

4. Place in tank and enjoy.

Sorry I can't be more specific with the baking/boiling times or temps. I'm sure someone else can be.

While some people like doing this, I frankly don't trust the wood around my house to be good for the tank, so I always buy from my LFS. It's just a matter of preference.

Joe Potato


Edit: Spelling.

Last edited by Joe Potato at 18-Feb-2005 00:21

highjinx

I would be extremly careful in just picking a pice up in the "wood" as you put it.

There is no way to tell if any poisons/sprays have been used and no matter what you do they will remain in the timber. As far as river and lakes think about the polution in the area.

I have several pieces in my tank but these were picked up in the tropics and have have been in the ocean and tropical sun for many years.

To be on the safe side buy what you want rather than take the risk if you are not 100% sure the driftwood is safe to use.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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I am too scared to pick up wood from here and there. The risk to my stock outweighs the cost of a piece of wood (IMHO)

Sap, gum, frangrances in woods may be toxic. eeeek.

I like to err on the side of caution. But if you know what type of wood then you can read up/ask here.

[forest wood - doesn't sound like it comes from the water's edge like driftwood does, I would steer clear]

Last edited by wish-ga at 17-Feb-2005 23:34

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

I have quite a few pieces of "found" wood in my tanks. These are pieces of dead wood I pick up from the local woods after heavy windstorms. Ones that appear to be freshly broken off. Alot of times if a piece has been sitting on the wood floor it'll have all sorts of critters and growth. This isnt to say that a newly fallen wood won't have these probelms, just a bit less likely IMO.

However you do need to be careful. Carefully check the wood over, give it a good scrubbing and soaking for quite some time. I bake mine @150F for a few hours, you do need to be careful as it can start to blacken. As was mentioned, you do run a risk by collecting on your own, even driftwood will have problems, dead wood runs even more of a risk.

^_^

[hr width='40%']"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate,what creates my own madness...
and I am waiting for disaster"

i get real drift wood from http://www.drsfostersmith.com but i guess u can try wood.

Dustin I see that you are in the US. Please note that I am in Australia where tea trees, eucalypts and the like proliferate. As such our wood can contain toxins. This probably colours my confidence where using found wood is concerned. The flora in your neck of the woods is probably vastly different.

All the best with your finds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Wherever you are in the world, fresh wood can be dangerous in your tank and it's only after wood has been weathered for a long time that it's safe.

Apparently the best time & place to collect it around here is after there's been a big rain-storm in the mountains, it all washes down the rivers to the sea and you can collect it along the sea-shore.

I've collected wood in a local river and had no trouble with it. I also bought a piece on an on-line auction from someone who lives on a farm with a river running through it. That piece has caused me all kinds of annoyance (it's been several months and it still hasn't sunk, and I had to scrub it for ages with a wire brush to remove all the caked-on mud and spongy outer wood.

I suggest either buying it, or collecting it yourself from somewhere where you know exactly where it's been.

highjinx

At the moment I am looking for a rather large special shaped piece of driftwood. Today at a local Aqu I saw some rather good size pieces and was very quickly told a big NONO as it was not for Aqu tanks and would leach out tannins for ages. This made me think that some drift wood could be selected and treated before it is sold to the Aqu trade. Next time I will ask when I go there.

Just another reason to select carefully.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW