Selecting proper driftwood

[cudamaster13]

Help me out guys, Im feeling sketchy about trusting certain woods.

mangrove or manzinita as well as mopani and malaysion driftwood wich is wood from a certain species of mangrove and other malaysion woods are all great safe choices as long as u boil them to remove tannins wich will cloud ur water if u want a 7.0 or lowerph with wsoft water i would recamend some tannins and trust me mangrove roots will look much better than that peice

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Thanks Noto, I appreciate the response.

Also, thanks everyone else. I only wanted more opinions. I dont know much about woods other than Malaysian and a few others that are popular. I dont even know what type Cedar or Cypress is. So thats why I wanted more clarification.

 

[le patron]

An explanation wasn't needed. 'Rust and stuff' isn't what you need to worry about. The toxic metal in waterways is mercury. Industrial discharge frequently includes copper and lead compounds. However, the EPA regulations limit the discharge to contain only nonlethal amounts. Unlike animal tissue, wood that has been waterlogged in waters with heavy metals will not contain levels higher than the water they are in. If the banks of the waterway are lined with rotting fish and the water is glowing orange, common sense will tell you not to put the wood in your tank. If the wood is gathered from a healthy ecosystem, the wood does not contain heavy metals in quantities that are of concern. By the way, your drinking water contains mercury, lead, and copper (among other totally gross stuff that you don't want to know about).

the only reason why i posted on this is because the river behind my house, where i go fishing on a regular basis during three seasons, is literally orange and has mercury levels that are through the roof. the local high school in my town tested the water for a science project and determined that the fish in the river are unsafe to eat because of these high mercury levels. thats what i meant by harmful metals

 

[CHOMPERS]

the only reason why i posted on this is because the river behind my house, where i go fishing on a regular basis during three seasons, is literally orange and has mercury levels that are through the roof. the local high school in my town tested the water for a science project and determined that the fish in the river are unsafe to eat because of these high mercury levels. thats what i meant by harmful metals

Don't fear the mercury. Since there are fish swimming in it is an indication that the mercury hasn't reached toxic levels. Nearly every body of water in the United States has mercury levels that are "through the roof". All freshwater fish come with that warning about eating them. It is because by the time fish have gotten big enough to eat, they have eaten enough smaller fish that have also had mercury. The small fish aquire levels at the water's mercury level and then a bigger fish eats it. The bigger fish starts with the same level but absorbs the mercury from the fish it ate and stores it in its organs and muscle tissues. Each fish it eats increases its mercury levels. Then when a bigger fish eats that one, it also absorbs the mercury. By the time a fish is taken home for dinner it has enough mercury to have that warning that we have all heard about.

But that toxic fish was just fine until he got hooked. Using wood that has been previously waterlogged from a body of water that has fish consumption warnings isn't something that has to be feared. The wood has much less mercury than the fish.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Where do you get mangrove roots? Whats everyones opinion on manzanita wood? Does it rot easy?

 

[Noto]

Baldcypress is fine, in fact it's one of the standard commercial driftwoods sold for aquarium use. The old world cypresses, such as Leyland cypress, are an unrelated group; I don't know if they are safe or not.

Baldcypress is a coastal plain tree; this map shows its distribution in Virginia. Another conifer that grows in wet places in your area is Atlantic white cedar . I have heard it is fine in aquaria as well, but have no firsthand experience with it.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Cool, thanks alot. I think I am gonan try and get some Manzanita. I like the branchy look.

 

[Eoibio]

I use mopani wood in my tank =]] Soak it in boiling water then put it in!at my lfs it was bout £4.50 for a kg and thats quite cheap.It has made my water slightly yellowish but it's still good on the level (Ammonia nitrate ect)