Driftwood Q?

[browny_x]

hey all,
im new hear n thought i would start asking

i was just wondering if you can use any wood in your tank, obviously not treated building wood or anything, but can you go get a lump of broken tree andd put it in your tank. i was just wondering cos a nice lump of red gum will look amazing

any suggestions

 

[waterdrop]

I believe once the experts get here you will find the answer is no (sort of.) IIR, normal wood breaks down into a real mess in the water, including many substances you don't want, not to mention debris you don't want. The woods that -are- used have had enough wave, sun and bacterial action over a great deal of time and are of a hard enough type that they work out to be not as much trouble (but even these can give you fits with the release of yellow tannins.)

I say "sort of" because, as with almost anything you want to try in your tank, you do have the option of putting it in a test bucket in water and running your test kits on it over a period of time - that should usually tell you a lot about what it might do to your tank.

These are just my thoughts and I would wait for other experienced opinions before deciding anything!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Brownie, I have used wood from trees around my home that had very hard wood and were thoroughly dry before I boiled them. That said, I thought a gum was another word for a eucalyptus. You would certainly not want to accidentally introduce eucalyptus oil into the tank so I would avoid it. For the same reason I will not use a black walnut from my yard in my tank. They are known to inhibit the growth of competing trees by releasing chemicals into the soil through their roots and I don't want that wood in my tank.

 

[browny_x]

yeah that makes sence, ill have to look around for something hard and dry that wont have any poison oils in it, got it. thanks