Aquarium Wood

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evanb

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Hello. I'm planning to rescape my 180l aquarium. I was wondering about going for the more natural look. What are the thoughts on collecting you'd own sticks/wood? I have 5 large beech trees in my garden, are beech sticks suitable? Also, will it make the water browny yellow?
I will most likely strip the bark and obviously make sure there's no sap left so I will probably wait till Autumn. If any members have that sort of style tank I would really appreciate some pictures to give a bit of inspiration!
Thanks!
 
Collecting your own wood can be done, but the wood must be aquarium safe.

I know that Beech wood is safe for aquariums. Almost all wood will leave tannis in the water, you will just have to deal with that.

Is the wood are you wanting to collect naturally fallen off of the tree?
 
Yes, I will be taking stuff that's already fallen off the tree. Although beech wood doesn't have a very high moisture content I think its safer that way.
 
Yes, I will be taking stuff that's already fallen off the tree. Although beech wood doesn't have a very high moisture content I think its safer that way.

Hmm.. I usually boil mopani wood to pull out that first wave of tannins - BUT maybe you should consider boiling the beech wood you find, or even shoving it in your freezer overnight, to kill off any unwanted bacteria that might be hanging out around trace pockets of moisture. Something at least, to sterilize it somehow.

After naturally sterilizing it, wouldn't hurt to soak it in some old tank water after your next water change either, give it a few days to get some of your tanks biome all over / soaked into it.

I don't know that any of this helps, but I've had the same thought about finding wood myself and figured these extra steps would help me before putting in my tank if I did.

If you do worry about tannins, get some Seachem Purigen! Works amazing to pull that "tea colored" tint out, lasts a lot longer than activated carbon and it won't pull out additional nutrients your plants need. Safe for fish & it's rechargeable (I recommend using a different procedure to "recharge" it than the MFR stated instructions). Worth checking into. My water stays crystal clear because of it.

Either way, best of luck!
 
Needs to be dry to the point that its brittle so theres no sap left in at all - i think this can take quite a while to happen after falling off a tree.
 

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