Be careful that it is not Cedar, Fir or Pine. The softwoods can leach dangerous oils into an aquarium environment.
Driftwood from creek or lake
- Thread starter BOREEK
- Start date
You can use cedar as long as it's dead. The sap wood is dried up, and you can soak it for a few weeks, changing water every day.
We just talked about this at our club meeting this weekend. Lots of people use cedar hearts for neat/cool/free additions to their tanks.
We just talked about this at our club meeting this weekend. Lots of people use cedar hearts for neat/cool/free additions to their tanks.
BOREEK;4784949; said:
I live in San Francisco.......I once hiked up into Novato(the wineries), thwere i found a small creek behind my uncle's apartment.............I picked up some large peices if driftwood..............I brought two 4-6 foot peices home and weighted them down inside my 100g..............After a week, I placed the wood peices inside my desired tank and it was good........The water showed a slight brownish tinge...........But, after a month, some fuzzy stuff grew on it..........Almost the shape and consistency of underwater snail eggs..............
Laticauda;4787354; said:
There are conflicting ideas floating around this hobby and depending on what GURU you talk to, it can or cannot be used? I don't know who is right, I just have heard the latter in most cases.
I know that when I have found some nice pieces of drift, I always cut into them to make sure the smell is not pungent of the oils. I can imagine that if I smell it, they will leech. Better to be safe than sorry I always say.
importracer;4787836; said:
That's a harmless fungus. It will show up whether you disinfect the wood or not, and will go away in a few weeks without treatment as bacterial populations develop on the wood's surface and outcompete the fungus. Plecos love the fungus.
joecoulson;4787872; said:
Keep in mind also that "cedar" refers to several rather different conifers. I have used weathered eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) wood in my tanks with no issues. I have heard that Atlantic white cedar (Chaemaecyparis thyoides) is also tank-safe. I don't know about Thuja species (western red cedar, northern white cedar, arbor vitae) or Cedrus species (old world cedars).
I use wood I found at a creek in two of my tanks. Looks great because it's from a beaver dam and they chewed the ends into points. Also the tannin makes the water tea colored, not dirty. Tannin can actually be really good for some fish. Especially south American cichlids. And IMO the tea colored water looks really pretty under the right light.
