Wood For A Tank?

[gh74]

Tell me what all types of wood can be used in a tropical tank?,and were could you find wood at that is safe to go into the tank,i wouldnt mind finding the wood that pet stores sell.
 
Thanks

 

[Wansui]

LPS usually sell bog wood or drift wood. Both are safe for aquariums and look great. You'll have to soak the wood for awhile before you put them in though. You do this to get rid of the "tannins" that leach into the water and cause it to turn a tea colour. Soaking the wood before hand stops this process. 

 

[gh74]

I already have wood in my lido 200,i was going to look for wood outside etc and didnt want to purchase from the lps as it cost's a fortune,but if it has to be from the lps then thats how it will be,a real rip off for a bit of wood though,i wouldnt mind getting rocks etc and gluing them altogether but where to find suitable rocks etc i bought a few from the lps over priced as always lol looking free ones,or even if anyone on here is selling wood i would buy from them etc but would need to post to northern ireland
 
cheers

 

[eaglesaquarium]

LPS usually sell bog wood or drift wood. Both are safe for aquariums and look great. You'll have to soak the wood for awhile before you put them in though. You do this to get rid of the "tannins" that leach into the water and cause it to turn a tea colour. Soaking the wood before hand stops this process. 

 
 
Pre-soaking doesn't 'stop' the process, it merely allows a larger amount of tannins to leech out first - as the wood sits in the tank, it will leech out less and less.
 
 
Incidentally, the tannins leeched out are beneficial for many species.  But, some don't prefer that appearance.  But, from a strictly aesthetic perspective, its not something that some people want.  But, from a biological perspective, it can be very beneficial.  Personally, I like the look.

 

[gh74]

i dont mind the look either,then when you do water changes it takes the coloured water out anyway,my water was very coloured there a while ago with tannins etc,i sort of panicked abit incase it could kill the fish,but when ya read up on things its not all as bad as ya think

 

[eaglesaquarium]

i dont mind the look either,then when you do water changes it takes the coloured water out anyway,my water was very coloured there a while ago with tannins etc,i sort of panicked abit incase it could kill the fish,but when ya read up on things its not all as bad as ya think

 
Not bad at all.

 

[yinyangpete]

A couple google searches on wood that is safe for your aquarium will give you lots of good ideas. But in general you want a hard wood that has been dead a long time.

 
As far as rocks go, if you don't have any natural rock deposits in your area, I've had good luck in the past going to a place that sells rock for landscaping--way, way less expensive than the rock at a pet store and the variety is much greater.
 
I recently collected my own driftwood and rocks and had fun with it. You'll have to invest some time, but for me that far outweighed the alternative of spending the bank on a hunk of dead tree and some rocks. It also gives a tank so much more "history" than just another trip to the pet store.

 

[Mamashack]

If you can get to a Dunelm they were selling mopani wood as house decorations for very little (£3-4) - I got most of mine from there.
I quite like the tannins tho so I didn't soak it too long - just long enought to get it to sink.

 

[DerpPH]

tannins do make it look better but not everyone's cup of joe though.
 
Beech is a safe type of wood when striped and dried before soaking, or you can go to the local waterway and collect some, that's where I get mine

 

[DerpPH]

But I do soak it weell

 

[fm1978]

You definitely want to stick to hard woods that are very very dry and as Yinyangpete says, long dead hard woods are usually OK. Avoid woods that have an odour, this usually means they're still producing or still have within them some oils or sap. 
 
Of course a good soaking and cleaning is a must, not just to get rid of tannins but also to allow the wood to soak up enough water to actually sink in your tank and not constantly fight it's way back to the surface all the time.
 
If I remember correctly from a post a while back, a lot of the woods from fruit-bearing trees are alright for aquariums. Might need to look that up again,
though. 

 

[gh74]

Thanks everyone for your replies there,i will get out on the hunt for wood,and take a trip to dunelm,as for the rocks at a garden centre will they produce anything that will leak into the tank? or do they all just need a good wash etc?

 

[DrRob]

Rocks depend. Occasionally you'll find one with heavy metals in it that will leach, bigger problem is with limestone containing rocks that will essentially dissolve slowly in soft water tanks, buffers them nicely to a pH of about 8.2, but not really ideal for many fish. Generally hard slates are good, as, generally, is granite. A relatively simple test is to put some good acid on a dry bit and see if it fizzes. People often suggest vinegar, but the results are less obvious than with things like limescale cleaner.
 
Wood is one of those interesting issues that you see a lot of answers on, often without first hand experience. The challenge is what you count as a good test. Tried and tested woods like mopani are great. Home collected hardwoods are often fine, but some toxins may not leech in different tanks, so even 1st hand experience isn't always 100%.
 
Personally I've used mopani with no trouble, as expected, oak with no trouble (and people regularly use the leaves), apple and pear with no problems. Elder makes for a good show but is a pain to get it to sink, leeches like a thing gone crazy and breaks down in about 2 years, so is better for shorter term scapes. Willow also floats a bit more than I like and breaks down over a few years, but doesn't leech so much. I've heard good things about hawthorne and heather. I have access to lots of ash, which I've heard conflicting reports on the toxicity of, but to be honest I've never found any good looking bits anyway.

 

[gh74]

Hmmmm alot to consider,it really isnt as simple as people think of just putting in a piece of wood/rocks and thats it,i might go to the garden centre and see what rocks they have and see if any are very compatible for tropical aquariums.

 

[DrRob]

Many of them are. Of course, a deliberately hard water tank such as a Malawi cichlid tank would actually benefit from the addition of limestone rocks, but it really depends what you have planned.