drift wood bark on or off

[beau1990]

So I've largely been a user of synthetic decor in my tanks and I'm making the switch to real and I was wondering why is it that we have to remove bark from branches and drift wood before we put them in the tanks? In nature it still has the bark on.


Discuss

 

[the big kahuna]

The bark would eventually get soft and break off into your tank creating lots of tannins and debris.

 

[twentyleagues]

Its a closed system. So if you put "bad" things into it they dont dissipate. In a river or lake the volume of water is much greater plus microbes and detrivoirs will help remove things like that. I'd be careful with putting anything that can leach contaminants in to a closed system. Remember the solution to pollution is dilution.

 

[beau1990]

Thanks guys like I said I was just curious and as stated I'm trying to go organic

 

[J. H.]

BTW, DO NOT use pine. Use hardwood, especially fruitwood, which tend to contain less poisons, and if you can salt/bleach/boil/whatever, try to get already aged stuff from a local body of water. You want something that will rot slowly, with very little sap, and not too many tannins (I don't know, but I'd stay away from oak, as it is famous for being rich in tannins and vvarious poisons, and has traditionally been used to preserve leather.)

 

[beau1990]

BTW, DO NOT use pine. Use hardwood, especially fruitwood, which tend to contain less poisons, and if you can salt/bleach/boil/whatever, try to get already aged stuff from a local body of water. You want something that will rot slowly, with very little sap, and not too many tannins (I don't know, but I'd stay away from oak, as it is famous for being rich in tannins and vvarious poisons, and has traditionally been used to preserve leather.)

fruitwood like apple wood or cherry?

 

[J. H.]

fruitwood like apple wood or cherry?

Yeah, I used apple trimmed from my tree that aged for a year. The bark fell off outside before I soaked it. Took like a month to get it to sink right, and get rid of the tannins and smell, but it's great now, and so hard my BN can chew all she wants and you'd hardly notice it.