driftwood or no???

[Magnum Man66 180]

So, just to start with a clarification, I have many pieces, that came to me as “driftwood” but I also use many local pieces of mostly maple, that I use in my tanks, that require wedging in place, or weighing down, to initially keep them in place, and in reasonably short order, they become waterlogged enough , that they no longer float… at that point, I still call these pieces driftwood, but maybe “new” driftwood… I think in nearly every tank I have wood in them… a big exception, is my hillstream tank, as I don’t think that area has tannin infused water, there may still be wood in those areas, where the fish are, however the exchange of water is so high, that no tannins remain, and I can’t recreate that in my tank, so I just don’t put any wood in that tank… I do use resin pieces that look like wood, both hollow logs, and stump shaped pots for plants, in most of my tanks, as I like the natural look, but these don’t leach any tannins, and I do have a nice stump pot, that holds a really nice coffeefola plant, in my hillstream tank..

so, do you use wood in your tanks??? any that like my hillstream tank, that you do not use any wood in???

 

[GaryE26 24]

For me, I use wood not for tannins, but for biofilm. Plus it looks good.

I would have pieces in every tank over 5 gallons if I had enough. I need to collect more maple, and get something local that's twisty. Years ago I pulled up a hedge that had rock hard roots, but they have gradually worn away by now.

The only fish I never kept with wood were Malawi cichlids, because their environment just doesn't have that look. If I had hillstreams, I would expect them to love the biofilm on driftwood. Even SA catfish that don't eat wood eat off it, and I'd expect Asian hillstreams to have similar habits. Anyone?

 

[Back in the fold20 5]

I went through my driftwood phase and finally got over it . Driftwood doesn’t fit my bare aquarium motif .

 

[gwand65 181]

I went through my driftwood phase and finally got over it . Driftwood doesn’t fit my bare aquarium motif .

What are you too lazy to vacuum a substrate your fish would appreciate?

 

[Uberhoust11 1]

TLDR: DRIFTWOOD YES

Pretty much every tank I have setup in the last 15 years has some wood in it. I am always watching out for new and unique pieces, I particularly like to find exposed root balls after winter floods, the roots often are in unusual shapes that provide interest in a tank. Contrary to what other have stated as dangerous, I will put coniferous wood in my tank Cedar, Lodgepole Pine, and Douglas Fir being the three main ones. I haven't had any issues with them because (my belief) I only use dead weathered wood in my aquarium. We also have beaches here and I occasionally use actual driftwood from the ocean, but I find that the winter storms tend to break up the smaller pieces (anything that can fit in a 75 gallon tank) into bashed up ugly pieces. Most of my wood I collect from water reservoirs, the constant wetting and drying of the wood in these locations help rapidly age any wood found in these areas. In addition to the species mentioned I have also had Arbutus, Red Alder, and Maple pieces, but haven't had any luck keeping Cottonwood or Aspen in the tanks (they break down too fast). Like most of my hardscape I tend not to purchase items but instead collect them. Many of the creeks here have golden brown color from the decomposing cedar leaves and bark, I have been tempted to use partially aged cedar boughs and branches for making temperate rainforest, black water tank, with the main hardscape feature as a log jam where the fish swim around the logs, (there would unfortunately be little light for plants in this tank).

 

[Boundava3 2]

Spiderwood (azalea roots) are tannin free and makes the most spectacular bacterial bloom (snot) when first added to a tank. It would be good in a hillsream tank.
You could also boil wood or pre-soak to remove tannins, it works well in DW that is not mopani.

I have DW of varying wood types in all of my tanks; always have. I have found in recent years that DW sold in LFS/swaps float a while before becoming waterlogged (if they ever do).
I used to avoid the slated pieces because if you are wanting to add to an existing tank you need to destroy it by clearing the substrate to bury the slate foot (what a mess and dangerous if you have a deep bed).

This is why I go for mopani even though its a tannin factory (which I and my fish don't mind, run some charcoal or presoak or do WC till desired level of sepia is achieved-lol).