Wood Suitability In An Aquarium

[jarthel]

I was with my son playing this morning in the playground and I saw a huge branch has been fallen/cut down. I had a look and there are some amazing piece I could get. I went back in the afternoon and was able to bring home a nice piece. I put it in the tank and it looks good. It's much larger to the ones I've here. the vertical branches reach will be higher than the water line.

Looking at the new wood and thinking of how to set it up, I thought of it's suitability in an aquarium (i.e. I do not want to suddenly rot). It's doesn't seem to be hardwood or softwood. I tried bending some of the smaller twigs (about 1cm to 1.5cm in diameter) and it doesn't bend easily.

How do I know if wood can be submerged without worry? Maybe I shouldn't be worried at all?

thank you very much

ps. I searched the net and the forums but can't find what I'm looking for.

 

[Truck]

It should be fine, as long as it was fully dry before being submerged I can't see any problems, I've seen loads of people use wood from there local park etc

 

[jarthel]

It should be fine, as long as it was fully dry before being submerged I can't see any problems, I've seen loads of people use wood from there local park etc

all the leaves are gone when I got it so I supposed it has been there for quite some time. And we've had some really hot days since early november. But I'll put it out on Wednesday since the forecast is a toasty 39C. That should dry it nicely!

thank you

 

[Truck]

It'll take 4-6 weeks to fully dry from inside to out.

 

[OldMan47]

The general classification of hardwood vs softwood is far too easy and misses the individual variations of plants. A hardwood is a tree that drops its leaves in the fall and grows new ones in the spring. This includes oaks, maples, almost all fruit trees, etc. You could have a look at the tree that your branch came from and determine if it is a hardwood quite quickly. That does not mean that you would know about its safety in an aquarium or its resistance to rot. A local hardwood where I am is Osage orange. It has all of the defining characteristics of a good hard dense wood but it is called 'post' by the local farmers because it is a great fence post wood. If you sink a suitable diameter branch in the soil, it will still be quite a strong fence post 50 years later because the wood resists insects and rot chemically. I don't want those chemicals in with my fish.

 

[jarthel]

The general classification of hardwood vs softwood is far too easy and misses the individual variations of plants. A hardwood is a tree that drops its leaves in the fall and grows new ones in the spring. This includes oaks, maples, almost all fruit trees, etc. You could have a look at the tree that your branch came from and determine if it is a hardwood quite quickly. That does not mean that you would know about its safety in an aquarium or its resistance to rot. A local hardwood where I am is Osage orange. It has all of the defining characteristics of a good hard dense wood but it is called 'post' by the local farmers because it is a great fence post wood. If you sink a suitable diameter branch in the soil, it will still be quite a strong fence post 50 years later because the wood resists insects and rot chemically. I don't want those chemicals in with my fish.

would you include almonds in that list?

All the almonds I've seen shed their leaves during fall. and there's some dead almond trees about 50 to 100meters from the house. I just need to get council approval because it's sitting in council land.

 

[OldMan47]

Almonds are definitely hardwoods. I would expect them to be suitable for pieces of wood in a tank.

 

[jarthel]

Almonds are definitely hardwoods. I would expect them to be suitable for pieces of wood in a tank.

thank you.

 

[jarthel]

the almond branch still has bark. but it's been dead for years so it's been soaked (in the rain) and dried out countless times. should I worry about tannins?

thank you

 

[OldMan47]

No worry about the tannins in that branch but do remove the bark. The bark on a tree or branch will decay much more quickly than the wood itself.

 

[jarthel]

No worry about the tannins in that branch but do remove the bark. The bark on a tree or branch will decay much more quickly than the wood itself.

I will try to remove them. thank you

 

[waterdrop]

...speaking of wood OM47, I should give you the two month (and more) update on my piece of bogwood for Oliver's tank. Its still in the plastic storage box soaking and now seems to take much longer to make tea water. When you first pour water in it stays clear for quite a while but eventually the water turns yellow, then eventually to tea. Often on weekends it gets some doses of boiling water from the kettle. I remember you saying the tannin leakage will never go completely away but I still want to get it lower. Seems logical that if the water in the soaking box stays mostly clear for a week then the tank water would stay completely clear between weekly water changes since the water volume in the tank will greater than that of the soaking box. WD

 

[OldMan47]

It makes sense to me WD. I recently placed a very nice piece of dense wood into a 10 gallon and I think I have redefined black water with that piece. I can still see the fish but the wood has been in the tank for less than a week and the water is quite dark. Although it was an auction pickup, I am starting to think that I have a piece of wood that is seeing water for the first time ever.