I found some wood at a park/Can plants you buy really carry fish diseases??

[Rocky998]

Ok, first thing I want to address is that I found some pieces of wood at a park that look to be ok for the aquarium BUT I want to know if I should boil it to kill of any weird bacteria or bugs that are in or on it... I will probably soak it and scrub it and then give it a good boil... Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Second thing I want to know is if diseases can be carried from one tank to another via plants... Like if I ordered some plants online and then boom all my fish can get some weird disease??? Please tell me this isn't possible even though it probably 1000% is...

 

[gilpi]

Of course it is possible to carry diseases on plants from one tank to another. As far as the wood, well that depends on what wood it is, what tree did it come from, is it soft, dense, does it have bark still on it? If it you really think it is good for the tank, a good boiling is good, also boiling it and or keeping it in water will tell if it's going to release tannin.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Some woods are severely toxic to fish, so you need to identify it before anything else otherwise even boiling it could still potentially kill fish. It is why its not really advised to plonk a lump of wood into an aquarium from a walk in the park, from the back yard etc cos you never know what bugs are living inside, you never know how many animals have pee'd, poo'ed or scent marked it...and without proper identification you may well introduce poison into the aquarium. So tread carefully and if any doubt, bin it.

 

[itiwhetu]

Any wood that you put in your tank must have no sap in it. That is why I use driftwood that has been in the ocean for months if not years. Any other wood could be harmful to your fish. Yes, diseases can be transported on plants but don't worry about it, healthy fishes' immune systems will take care of them.

 

[Colin_T]

Unless you can 100% guarantee the wood at the park has not been sprayed with something (herbicide, etc), I would not use it in an aquarium.

Most councils use Glyphosate (Roundup, Weed Killer, etc) to spray around parks and along the edge of paths, and even on paths to kill weeds. Glyphosate is extremely toxic to all life and will kill fish or other aquatic organisms in a short period of time (minutes to hours after exposure). It also leaves a carcinogenic residue behind for at least 6 months after it is sprayed.

Glyphosate should be outlawed but governments won't because it makes their life easier than weeding and mowing.

The company that developed Glyphosate back in the 70s is called Monsanto. Yes, the same company that make GM crops for human consumption. They sold the rights to Glyphosate (Roundup) to a German company a few years ago after they lost a civil law suit from an American high school groundskeeper who was exposed to it daily for a couple of years and developed terminal leukemia. Monsanto sold the product for about 10% of their annual turnover from the product.
Why would you sell a supposedly safe and successful product for so little if it was safe?

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Re: plants transmitting diseases. As others have said, yes it happens. this is why you should always rinse new plants under tapwater and if possible, quarantine them for a couple of weeks before adding them to the main display tank. Most people don't quarantine them and most people don't have any problems with diseases coming from plants. But it is there.

Good shops will keep their plants in separate tanks and on separate systems so no fish diseases can get onto the plants. Then the plants will be free of disease and safe to add straight away.

Plants aren't the only things that can transmit diseases. Anything that has water on from a fish tank that has a disease in it, can transmit the disease in the water. Fish nets, gravel cleaners, buckets, ornaments, gravel, filters, filter media, etc, can all transmit diseases via contaminated water. Even your own hands and arms can transmit diseases from one tank to another via the water on your skin.

 

[GaryE]

I use wood, but not from community parks. If I'm in a forest, and see something I think will be worth the long wait for it to sink, I pick it up. I avoid softwoods because of resin. Hardwoods are best, but can take many months to really get to the sink and stay stage. Driftwood training is hard - they take a long time to learn "stay"!

Our communicable diseases are alive, so they can certainly hitchhike on aquarium plants. The odds are much lower than on fish, but it happens. Ich has to have been in full freeswimming phase in the tank where the plants were for the transfer to happen though, and that isn't likely. I wouldn't buy plants from a tank where the fish were unwell, but in 55 years of buying plants, the only things I ever brought in with them were hydra, and maybe Oodinium spp, velvet. The latter is just maybe.

If there are no laws against it, you can collect plants in the wild, and they may be cleaner than ones you buy in shops. We are extra paranoid about rocks, plants, etc from all around us. We're filthy beasts, but we humans haven't polluted everything. and we can look around for clean looking places to collect stuff in. That can be fun.

If I'm buying plants, I prefer to get them from fellow hobbyists first and from local shops second. They cost more in aquarium stores, but I get to see them. Sight unseen online is a gamble I dislike.

 

[Rocky998]

Ok... I might just leave it be then... I know pine and other conifers are toxic to fish but I think my wood is a maple that I have... There were not many pine trees. The area I found the wood in was in an area you could see one pine tree but the piece of wood was surrounded by maple trees... Yhe pesticides worry me a lot but I dont know whether or not that park uses them where I found the wood... I won't use it though becaise I dont want to take that chance.

That's good to know about the plants. It makes me feel a bit better about just rinsing and adding some to the tank

 

[10 Tanks]

Ok, first thing I want to address is that I found some pieces of wood at a park that look to be ok for the aquarium BUT I want to know if I should boil it to kill of any weird bacteria or bugs that are in or on it... I will probably soak it and scrub it and then give it a good boil... Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Second thing I want to know is if diseases can be carried from one tank to another via plants... Like if I ordered some plants online and then boom all my fish can get some weird disease??? Please tell me this isn't possible even though it probably 1000% is...

Hello Rocky998...

I can only tell you what I've learned from my years keeping fish tanks. Wood you find is fine to put into a fish tank. I just scrub it with some aquarium salt dissolved in tap water and left it out in the sun to dry for a couple of days. The sun's rays will kill anything that might harm your fish. The chances of your fish getting a disease from a piece of wood is really unlikely in my opinion. I've found that boiling the piece softens the wood and causes it to fall apart. The tank water will eventually dissolve anything. Most pieces I've used are too big to try to boil anyway.

As for plant diseases, I just rinse the plants really well before I put them in my tanks. In all the years keeping fish tanks, I've never had any problems. But, do what you feel is best, "you're the boss".

10

 

[Rocky998]

Thank you! I'm just afraid that I may not clean everything off... Especially things like pesticides... If I ever find a nice piece of driftwood, then I would consider it... Maybe I can share a few pictures od the wood I found and see what you think... I'm out of the house right now so I can't but when I have time I will try to take a photo or two. Thank you again for your experience and advice!

Hello Rocky998...

I can only tell you what I've learned from my years keeping fish tanks. Wood you find is fine to put into a fish tank. I just scrub it with some aquarium salt dissolved in tap water and left it out in the sun to dry for a couple of days. The sun's rays will kill anything that might harm your fish. The chances of your fish getting a disease from a piece of wood is really unlikely in my opinion. I've found that boiling the piece softens the wood and causes it to fall apart. The tank water will eventually dissolve anything. Most pieces I've used are too big to try to boil anyway.

As for plant diseases, I just rinse the plants really well before I put them in my tanks. In all the years keeping fish tanks, I've never had any problems. But, do what you feel is best, "you're the boss".

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Thank you! I'm just afraid that I may not clean everything off... Especially things like pesticides... If I ever find a nice piece of driftwood, then I would consider it... Maybe I can share a few pictures od the wood I found and see what you think... I'm out of the house right now so I can't but when I have time I will try to take a photo or two. Thank you again for your experience and advice!

Hello again...

There's an old saying that goes "If there's the slightest doubt, then there is NO doubt". And, "better safe than sorry". By all means, post some pictures of the piece. I'd like to see them. Stuff you find out in the country is really safe if it's cleaned up. Just my opinion of course.

10

 

[Colin_T]

Driftwood training is hard - they take a long time to learn "stay"!

LOL
Bad driftwood, stay, stay, stay.....