Forest Wood

[codeajohnson]

Hello,

Has anyone ever transferred wood from a forest into their tank? I was at my LFS today and told them that I was thinking about doing it and wanted to know if they had any suggestions. They told me it was a horrible idea and that I shouldn't even think about doing it. But I didn't know if they were just telling me this because they wanted me to buy a $100 piece of wood, or if actually is a horrible idea. So, has anyone actually done this? If so, do you have any suggestions? I was thinking that boiling the wood would be a start. Please let me know!

Thanks!

 

[ALEXF]

If a piece fo wood is found in the wild it will most likely harvest small parasites, but i fyou want to add it to the tank then all you would need to do is bake your wood to kill of anything that maybe living in it. Im sure some one with more info such as how long and what temp will arrive but i figured id help with what i could.

 

[Tsi_User]

I did this in my tank and haven't had any problems for a while now. Here's what i did-

-picked pieces of wood that were completely dry
-put them in boiling water twice to kill off any bacteria/parasites/etc..
-scrubbed the wood with a coarse brush to remove any bark/debris that might come off in the fish tank

 

[dusky]

I suppose if it was boiled well it would be ok?

 

[pastabake]

Apart from anything else, most woods will simply rot and in doing so will release lots of tanins and organics that you don't want in your tank.

Woods that are less prone to rotting because their natural environment is riverside etc have a nasty tendency once immersed in water to come back to life, sprouting roots which could potentially damage your tank, failing that they will also rot.

There are a couple species that will resist rotting and could probably be used but not having my arboriculturist at hand I couldn't tell you what they are.

Bogwood is your best bet ... so go digging in marshy areas or peatbogs ... the moors around Manchester etc would be good places to look, if you're from the UK.

 

[codeajohnson]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

[Dave Spencer]

As long as it is dried out and still hard, without any signs of rotting, it will be fine. I very rarely buy wood when it is so readily available lying around. Check out some planted tank forums, where people use all manner of wood, a lot of it being what people have picked up.

The same goes for rocks. I have never bought a single rock for any of my tanks.

Sometimes people are overcautious with what they find in their wanderings, and end up paying extortionate prices for what somebody else has picked up off the ground. Just use a little common sense and you will save yourself a fortune.

Dave.

 

[codeajohnson]

Thanks for the help. I had assumed that nice dry wood would be all right since it wouldn't have started to rot. As for the rocks you put in your tank, do you use the acid test to make sure that they wont affect the chemistry of your water? Or how do you determine whether the rocks are ok for your aquarium? Thanks again for you help

 

[Straydum]

add a few drops of vinegar on the rock. if it fizzes, its a no no.

 

[codeajohnson]

Thanks Straydum! I knew of the test but I wasn't sure if it only tested for certain minerals or if it was an overall test. So as long as there is no fizz then the rocks are ok for my aquarium. Thanks again!

 

[Mikaila31]

I've used wood from my woods, normally I collect it during the winter since its cleaner that way. I have had good results with pine branches. Find a big pine tree and normally the lower branchs are dead and have the bark already removed. I still boil them to be on the safe side, but they have held up better than the big peices of drift wood I have bought from the store.

 

[codeajohnson]

So some sort of pine tree would be my best bet? And all bark should be removed, correct?

 

[Mikaila31]

Yah, I've had good luck with pine, but what ever the wood it should stay hard under water. If it gets spongy don't use it. Looking for dead lower branches of trees works best for me. Most of the bark should be removed, sometimes you can find branches with most of the bark gone, if not just remove it best you can. It's not going to be the end of the world if some of the bark is left on the wood.

 

[OldMan47]

Sorry to have to point this out but pine is a very soft wood. Fruit tree wood such as apple and cherry is much harder and denser as are oak, ash, maple, hickory and any number of deciduous trees.

 

[codeajohnson]

All right sounds good. Thanks for all the help!