Driftwood question

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

Alice B

Fish Herder
Joined
Feb 20, 2022
Messages
1,157
Reaction score
1,113
Location
Fort Worth, TX
I got a bunch of aquarium stuff from a lady leaving the hobby. I also have firewood. I found a piece of wood on my porch that could have come from either, and soaked for a week in a pot of water, weighed down by a rock. Poured brown water out, it stunk, put fresh warm water in and have been boiling it this morning. I need my chili pot.

Is there anything else I need to do to make this wood safe to go in an aquarium, except maybe let it cool down?
 
You need to know the wood species to ensure it should be safe. I would think that "firewood" might be soft wood rather than hard wood? Softwood is dangerous. If it stank as you said I would never use it.
 
Well you’ll need to know the species, because some woods are toxic to fish.
 
Well you’ll need to know the species, because some woods are toxic to fish.
The pan i soaked it in wasn't washed first and I believe it was from the aquarium stuff I had on my porch, and it's in the 29. It did not smell after boiling.
 

Attachments

  • 20230124_132548.jpg
    20230124_132548.jpg
    358.5 KB · Views: 16
I need a list of woods toxic to fish. I avoid pine on principle because it's oily. I avoid lake driftwood because it's way too much mystery. What I would love to cure for a tank is Crape Myrtle. I am burning it for firewood right now, easier than bundling for the city, it's brittle, burns fast and hot, but that tells me nothing about aquarium use. I didn't see any answers when I walked past that wood on my counter all cooled down and ready to go. Short of spending money I don't have at a fish store, my little BN had a tiny crumb of aquarium driftwood left.
 
Last edited:
I got a bunch of aquarium stuff from a lady leaving the hobby. I also have firewood. I found a piece of wood on my porch that could have come from either, and soaked for a week in a pot of water, weighed down by a rock. Poured brown water out, it stunk, put fresh warm water in and have been boiling it this morning. I need my chili pot.

Is there anything else I need to do to make this wood safe to go in an aquarium, except maybe let it cool down?
Hello Alice. Wood pieces fall apart much faster if they're boiled. The extreme heat softens the wood and unless the wood is very hard and dense, it will dissolve in the tank water in a few months. Even hard woods will eventually dissolve in the tank water. If you want to sterilize the piece, add a couple of tablespoons of aquarium salt to a five gallon bucket of tap water and soak the piece in the bucket for a couple of days. Then, rinse the wood in clean tap water. The high concentration of salt in the water will kill anything that would harm the fish.

10 Tanks
 
Thank you 10 Tanks. It's a bit late. It was going in with corydoras that don't care much for salt and I wanted to release most of the tannins because I like my tank clear, so by the time I posted it was already in the stew pot so to speak
 
Here is a nice guide:
 
Thank you 10 Tanks. It's a bit late. It was going in with corydoras that don't care much for salt and I wanted to release most of the tannins because I like my tank clear, so by the time I posted it was already in the stew pot so to speak
Hello again. Oh well. Most pieces that are boiled will last a few months. Depends on the wood. Actually, some species of Corydoras will do well in water that has a trace of salt in it. Most tap water sources have more than one percent salt. I use a little in my Cory tanks. Actually, the Corys are a hybrid called "Orange Saddle". Don't know if you've ever heard of the species. But, they're raised in water that's a bit higher in salt and they breed nicely. I add a about a teaspoon of salt to every five gallons of replacement water. Some of the Corys I've had typically live four to six years. I have one that's over seven.

10 Tanks
 
Malwarebytes did not like the link to injaf, even when I got it direct from a search engine. I'll poke around the internet. I started keeping fish before there was an internet or even a Commodore BBS, back then you went to the fish store or the library, Maybe I should check a book too, I do own a few
 
Hello again. Oh well. Most pieces that are boiled will last a few months. Depends on the wood. Actually, some species of Corydoras will do well in water that has a trace of salt in it. Most tap water sources have more than one percent salt. I use a little in my Cory tanks. Actually, the Corys are a hybrid called "Orange Saddle". Don't know if you've ever heard of the species. But, they're raised in water that's a bit higher in salt and they breed nicely. I add a about a teaspoon of salt to every five gallons of replacement water. Some of the Corys I've had typically live four to six years. I have one that's over seven.

10 Tanks

There is a problem with this, a serious one. Soft water fish are slowly harmed by salt in the water at the levels mentioned. All Corydoras fall into this group. Using salt to deal with a specific disease/problem is OK, where salt is an effective treatment, and for short, very short, periods. The detriments are set out in my article here

Neale Monks proof-read the article and posted it on Wet Web Media. Enough said.

On the Corydoras, what is the species name (scientific), or the CW number? Doing a search of "orange saddle Corydoras" turned up no cory species aside from mentions of some species that have orange colouration on the head or fins. And who is breeding them in water with salt added? This doesn't make any sense, given that minimal salt has no benefit at all, but it will long-term harm the soft water fish.

By the way, Corydoras should live a lot longer than a few years. Ian Fuller had one cory that was in its 40th year when it died. Ian says most should see two or three decades.
 
There is a problem with this, a serious one. Soft water fish are slowly harmed by salt in the water at the levels mentioned. All Corydoras fall into this group. Using salt to deal with a specific disease/problem is OK, where salt is an effective treatment, and for short, very short, periods. The detriments are set out in my article here

Neale Monks proof-read the article and posted it on Wet Web Media. Enough said.

On the Corydoras, what is the species name (scientific), or the CW number? Doing a search of "orange saddle Corydoras" turned up no cory species aside from mentions of some species that have orange colouration on the head or fins. And who is breeding them in water with salt added? This doesn't make any sense, given that minimal salt has no benefit at all, but it will long-term harm the soft water fish.

By the way, Corydoras should live a lot longer than a few years. Ian Fuller had one cory that was in its 40th year when it died. Ian says most should see two or three decades.
Hello Byron. A Cory living for decades would be amazing. If this was the case, most fish keepers would have to provide for the fish in their will and pass on the care of the fish to their children. Corys are one of the longer lived fish out there, but for the fish to live as long as you say would require ideal water conditions for many, many years without even one mistake in tank management. I think those water conditions would be something to strive for, but not attainable for the vast majority of us. Corydoras kept in good water condtions will live between 5 and possibly seven years. I really believe this is more realistic.

10 Tanks
 
Last edited:
Hello Byron. A Cory living for decades would be amazing. If this was the case, most fish keepers would have to provide for the fish in their will and pass on the care of the fish to their children. Corys are one of longer lived fish out there, but for the fish to live as long as you say would require ideal water conditions for many, many years without even one mistake in tank management. I think those water conditions would be something to strive for, but not attainable for the vast majority of us. Corydoras kept in good water condtions will live between 5 and possibly seven years.

10 Tanks

Well, from my perspective, any aquarist not willing to make the effort to provide what the fish need should not be in the hobby. This does not mean "perfect" water, whatever that may be. But it means not dumping salt and other chemicals in which do nothing beneficial but do harm the fish. All it takes is clean water with suitable parameters, and quality food.

The other questions weren't answered, interestingly.
 
Hello Byron. A Cory living for decades would be amazing. If this was the case, most fish keepers would have to provide for the fish in their will and pass on the care of the fish to their children. Corys are one of the longer lived fish out there, but for the fish to live as long as you say would require ideal water conditions for many, many years without even one mistake in tank management. I think those water conditions would be something to strive for, but not attainable for the vast majority of us. Corydoras kept in good water condtions will live between 5 and possibly seven years. I really believe this is more realistic.

10 Tanks
I had the same colony of corydoras for at least 12 years, probably longer. Lost a couple of the older bronze corydoras in about 2016 or 2017, bought a few at a fish store to raise the population, and despite quarantine the new ones carried something and I lost my colony. I don't put salt in my cory tanks. Period You talking about Orange Laser corydoras with the orange?
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top