Make any wood safe?
- Thread starter LogiBear
- Start date
I just carve off the bark off what ever I find and put it in boiling water for about an hour to clean/sanatize and then soak it in a bucket for a week so it water logs and doesn't float
Boiling the wood leads to it breaking down faster than if it seasoned naturally into driftwood. Green (fresh) wood will also release sugars and tannins into your tank that will tax your filtration and tint your water. Some woods may contain sap that can irritate or harm your fish. If you coat a piece found in the woods, use 2-part epoxy. Epoxy will provide a water-proof coating that is inert to your fish once it has cured fully. You'll likely have to anchor the piece to slate to counter any buoyancy issues.
Obviously, coated wood would not benefit any chewing Loricariidae species since these would be no bacteria active in the wood surface to provide the simple sugars the loris seek when they chew wood. For these sucker catfish I recommend only incorporating properly seasoned driftwood int their systems and not 'aesthetic' pieces that don't provide for the fish's needs.
Presoaking drift wood pieces released all their **** while in presoak otherwise your tank water will turn brown poopy looking. As for SAP in trees, you gonna know what trees base it off of. You have you high sugar produces like maple trees, or you typical sticky SAP of pine trees. But ash tree you can put right in because they don't use SAP just raw water. This makes ash great for immediate additions to tanks, as well as firewood that can be burned inside wet as it will also clean your chimney being vapor based.
If you can ID the type of tree the branch is from that would be best. Aside from exotic driftwoods like manzanita, bog wood, or whatever - The best alternative would be common hard woods like oak or cherry. Softwoods will break down and most have sap which will leach out