I'm looking at adding some dw to my tank.. it will be from a live tree that was just cut down. Do I need to season it for a year first or can I boil it to get all the nasties/sap out?
Drift wood question
- Thread starter flukekiller
- Start date
would not suggest putting fresh wood in a tank, it will rot and throw your parameters all out of wack.
Don't add wood from a live tree to your tank.
1 - It won't sink
2 - It will stain the water
3 - It will leak toxins into the water for months
4 - It will rot in your tank
Driftwood is wood that has been out (Drifting) at sea or submerged in a river/lake for a long time.
You only have 2 options: Bite the bullet and spend a fortune at a store buying the wood.
Go to the beach, river, lake etc after a storm and see whats washed up. This will be a gold mine for driftwood. I got mine from a beach.
Saltwater driftwood is harder to get ready for a tank but still worth it.
1 - It won't sink
2 - It will stain the water
3 - It will leak toxins into the water for months
4 - It will rot in your tank
Driftwood is wood that has been out (Drifting) at sea or submerged in a river/lake for a long time.
You only have 2 options: Bite the bullet and spend a fortune at a store buying the wood.
Go to the beach, river, lake etc after a storm and see whats washed up. This will be a gold mine for driftwood. I got mine from a beach.
Saltwater driftwood is harder to get ready for a tank but still worth it.
I understand that.. I'm gonna strip the bark off,, power wash it ,scrub it, boil it... my concern would be any sap like stuff in the branch that would leech out... .. crap maybe I will cook it to dry it out.. not trying to rush anything just wondering if I could use it before it's fully seasoned
I wouldnt trust it who knows what it will leach into the tank. I would just buy it at an aquarium store. I know a little pricey but worth piece of mind, My LFS will always sell one in one of his tanks which will sink and most if not all the tannins are released already. Its your decision in the long run I learned the hard way and messed my tank up and lost a lot of fish . Never again.
A recently cut down branch no, but one that's dried out for a while yes. The wood in my 40g is from a dead branch that fell on my mom's garage. Tie it to a rock or lean one against it to hold it down until it sinks.
Just so you know, boiling wood to season it will lead to the wood rotting more quickly in your tank.
To properly season green wood to driftwood it must be submerged for a long length of time. When I lived in Louisiana, we tied wood pieces to our fishing dock with concrete blocks keeping the pieces under water. At our lake temps, it took 2 years for hardwood species to become properly seasoned (no leaching or fungus growth).
To properly season green wood to driftwood it must be submerged for a long length of time. When I lived in Louisiana, we tied wood pieces to our fishing dock with concrete blocks keeping the pieces under water. At our lake temps, it took 2 years for hardwood species to become properly seasoned (no leaching or fungus growth).