are there any trees that can be poisonous to fish?

[sikoko]

i want to go collecting "driftwood" for my tank in a spring-fed stream right down the road from my house and was wondering if there are any types of wood/trees that could be poisonous to my fish.

 

[JasonG75]

ALL could be if not properly cleaned.

 

[sikoko]

would someone care to explain how to properly clean a piece, i was gonna go out now and see if i find anything so i should have some pieces when i log back on.

 

[MonsterPeacock]

Stay away from Pine for obvious reasons and only used "aged drift wood". Look for pieces that looks like it's been sand blasted with no bark etc. the smoother and cleaner a piece looks the better. After gathering your wood bring home and soak them in a bin of salt water, I use lots of salts to help clean and kill any unwanted bugs / parasites that maybe hiding in / on them. Let them sit for a good few days fully submerge in this salt water, then remove and rise well with the hose before adding them into your tanks. Also note that the driftwood will likely bleach into your water turning your water a tan / tea color, don't worry about this and with normal water changes will end in time.

 

[sikoko]

just went out and came back decided i needed some sort of saw lol, i found a couple but one was a pine, what kind of salt? table salt, aquarium salt, sea salt.

 

[knifegill]

No conifers. Alder, oak, most deciduous, and most fruit trees are great. Stay away from black walnut, too.

 

[DIDYSIS]

I just use a small amount of bleach to clean the wood out.

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[sikoko]

like a capful?

 

[DIDYSIS]

Well I wash stuff in about 100 gallons of water and to that I would add about a cup maybe a little less I don't really measure anymore. Better at times to start out with less and add a little then too much and have to soak and do allot of wc to clean it out well. Let it soak really well for a while like an evening. Then after soaking I pull th's wood out smell it and see how bad th's bleach smell is. If it's super super strong you need to soak it and do wc with the soaking water for a couple days. If you cant smell it at all add a little more bleach soak a little more. Then start the rinse and wc on rinse water. At the end you should be able to just smell a Really really really faint smell of bleach. Or none at all and be really good to go. Add prime into tank when you add the item cleaned. Some people may not agree but I clean all my rocks filter sock wood everything this way. And a touch of bleach smell on the item has never bothered anything. Even fry in my sump never have died ever. I do have an aquarium that has been up for years though and also I add prime in with the item to help with anything as it's like super fish smell coat whatever.

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[DIDYSIS]

Also I have boiled stuff also. If it's too large boil water and watch your feet and everything and pour boiling water over the item.

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