Driftwood questions?

[sunvalley aquarist]

I'm wanting to do some tank landscaping in my 240 and could use some advice.

What type of driftwood is safe for a freshwater aquarium?

What type do you have in your tank (pictures)?

Where did you go to find yours (landscape supply)?

How did you prepare the wood before putting it in your tank?

 

[erk419]

Just go to a near by lake its free and a wide selection. Boil or bake it if you can and soak it as long as you can to get most the brown tarnish out and to water log it.

 

[boldtogether]

Generally any hard wood will work for aquascaping but you should stay away from eucalyptus as it may be bad...I've never heard its poisonous but I have heard not to use it for whatever reason...probably get the fish stoned. But seriously, wood you find naturally that has been submerged will be okay I have found. Cleaning it is absolutly important!!!! Boiling it is often used to remove tanins that can leech in to the tank and the disinfecting benifits are obvious. Boiling is also used to "bog" the wood or speed up the bogging process. I have had wood take six months to sink and still leech tanins after a year. If you get wood that is already bogged and you let it dry out you may never get it to sink again...this is especially true for dense woods like manzanita and certain "vine" type woods like Rosemary and grape vine. I heard another poster say it like this however...."fish in the wild have no control over what wood falls into the water so most wood probably would be okay"...again....soak, scrub, de-bark, scrub and soak, soak, soak. Also, be aware of the water softening affect wood will have in your tank esp if you need high ph for say African rift lake cichlids. A combination of good ph raising rocks and substrate with the wood with offset the water softing the wood will create. Finally, stay away from soft woods like pine...you'll just have problems.

 

[SeaweedPimp]

^^^^^^^^^^ Great informative post.

 

[sunvalley aquarist]

thank you for your advice