natural rocks and woods

[penguinpimp1990]

i was walking through the woods today and being the geek that i am i thought a lot of the rocks and pieces of woods in there would look good in a tank.......... so i was wondering if i took some random rocks and i do the vinegar test thing and they pass could i put them in my tank? (after i clean them of course) also could i put some of the wood in the tank? i dont know if there is any test thingy for the wood though

 

[rdd1952]

As long as the rocks pass the test, they would probably be ok. You will need to boil them well to kill any bacteria that may be on them. Make sure to keep an eye on the pot and don't boil it dry as I did (got on the computer, came to this forum and forgot what about the rocks). As for the wood, you would also need to boil it which is generally a problem as no one has pots big enough to put a piece of driftwood in. Also, you would need to soak it for quite some time to get it waterlogged (so it will stay down and not float) and also for the tannins to leech out (so your water won't turn brown). Also, I don't think you want any kind of evergreen but not certain about that.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I would avoid the wood mainly because some types of wood are posionus and also they have to be thoroughly dried and old; i'd personally just buy some treated bogwood from your lfs as its much safer .

 

[penguinpimp1990]

has anyone ever tried keeping wood they found in their aquariums?

 

[yvez9]

if you find wood on the beach, which is basically driftwood, you can use it after boiling it

a piece of wood found in the woods will most likely be rotting or very humid, cramped with insects and bacteria. I wouldn't risk it

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

has anyone ever tried keeping wood they found in their aquariums?

You mean forests/woodlands? no, but i do have bogwood from my lfs in one of them.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

yeah from the forest.........so amybe ill make a trip to the beach

 

[ccg]

Make the trip to a beach. Would found in the forest is not going to be good for the tank as said above. Find yourself some nice drift wood, and make sure you boil and clean it the best you can.

I have recently added 7 large peaces of drift wood from the beach and so far so good, the one has been in there for about 6 week and is still floating. I have never had any leak any tannis into the water.

good luck.

 

[The-Wolf]

why not read this topic in the FAQ section
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=55806

and this one in the hardware section
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=54177

 

[red-devil0602]

doesn't beach wood have problems with salt content?

 

[LoachLover]

Just boil the heck out of the wood and it should be fine

 

[Fish Buddy]

I have wood from the woods in my 50g tank. I have a forest on my property and there is a stream that runs through it. The peices I found that were suitable were in the water already water-logged. - Basically you don't want any thing punny (soft/spongy) or fresh green woods. The wood I found was cedar -an ever green. The wood (about 10 pieces) has been in my tank for months and I have not had any problems.
What I did was scrub it clean-(also don't pick peices that fall apart when cleaned-you want it hard/firm); then I boiled the woods in a pot for 30 min (you would only need to boil it for 10 min- but I wanted to be safe). For the pieces that were larger- I boiled one side then did the other. If you want even larger pieces than can be done in a pot, I have heard of baking the wood. (I found a large piece and I plan on baking it)

I would not recommend getting wood from the beach- I have heard that once salt gets into it-it is impossible to get out unless soaked for weeks.... unles you were thinking of a fresh-water beach.
But be careful with any place you get things from-you do not want polution in your tank!

I have also gathered rocks from outside and placed them in my tank. Basically you do the same thing as with wood (scrub and boil) but make sure you pick hard rocks. By that I mean rocks that will not dissintegrate. Choose stuff like granet, quarts, feldstone, or anything else of that hardness (sometimes the acid test does not work IME).

Bon chance!

 

[CatLover]

I once gathered driftwood from the river banks around here. I got 2 very large pieces that were about 4ft long. One of those pieces was actually a whole branch off a tree that had died and been dry for a long time. I placed them in my bathtub and ran scalding hot water over them for hours. Then I let them soak over night, and ran more scalding water over them the next day. I had no problems with them in my tank, but after about a month I didn't like they way they looked, so I threw them out.

It was pretty kool to watch my tetras and danios zip around through the branches though