Driftwood Dominated Tanks

graphicdesign_r said:
Sorry, sometimes fighting the good fight can only be done by abstaining from the discussion. Two questions and I'm staying away from this thread/topic:

If the trees in the rainforest are not a renewable resource at the current rate of deforestation, how is the driftwood used as a habitat for local species going to replenish itself?

If a tree falls in the woods and no environmentalists are around to complain would anyone care?

Not picking another fight on this, as I said I'm outta here, but it's food for thought.

The questions you ask offer good hypothesis. In a sense, every word we type here, every bit of electricity we burn, and every penny we spend contributes to worldwide pollution and to the extinction of some species.

Man vs Nature and Evolution vs Creation discussions usually start this way;
so I'll conclude my part of the driftwood discussion also.
 
graphicdesign_r said:
Sorry, sometimes fighting the good fight can only be done by abstaining from the discussion. Two questions and I'm staying away from this thread/topic:

If the trees in the rainforest are not a renewable resource at the current rate of deforestation, how is the driftwood used as a habitat for local species going to replenish itself?

If a tree falls in the woods and no environmentalists are around to complain would anyone care?

Not picking another fight on this, as I said I'm outta here, but it's food for thought.

How is taking the driftwood out of the local park or forest any different?
 
heres what I have done

and heres my favorite piece of driftwood (possibly that ive seen)



i got this after the 2004 hurricane season in florida. there was the submerged remains of a dock or pier that was right at the surf line. the remains of the posts were mostly rotten except a 10inch section where the waves pounded away the rotten wood, making this keyhole shaped pice of driftwood, i wish i had an axe or a chainsaw to get the bigger pieces (they were all still firmly rooted in the ground) but this is all i got. to prepair it, i scrubbed off all remaining rotten wood and then soaked it in an untreated water bath, then a treated one. dried it off, then set in in the gravel with a rock supporting it so it wouldnt float away. i think soaking in salt helps with makeing the wood rot resistant, but i still have to scrub the driftwood every once in a while to get off rotten wood. but if you want an amazon setup, you may want to leave the tannin in the water, as the amazon itself is brown from the stuff.

best of luck!
 
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Bristlenose Chuck said:
How is taking the driftwood out of the local park or forest any different?

im NOT tryin to start a riot, but in temperate zones like most of the US (east mostly but some N-west) the forests will grow back if we leave them alone, the rainforests on the other hand... take A LOT longer, and could go anywhere from growing back, to washing away, to becomeing a desert (not likely in S.america or anytime in the next century, but it shows the dif.)
jus to let u no... but i don see how driftwood causes as much of a negative effect, every Brazillian that can make a living off of collecting driftwood, is one less that is burning forest for poor farmland.
 
umm when on the internet a hundred people saying locally dont make a whole hill of beans.

maybe to somebody malasia is local

i can understand if the driftwood where you live is crap but ive seen good peices around here in the south.


soooooo in conclusion aww fork it i started watching tv and forgot what i was gonna say that was gonna lead to world peace
 
I'd like to know what the so-called "nasties" are. I am willing to bet there are few "nasties" that will harm fish contained within wood from a forest.

I think I'd stay away from cedars and redwood, since they tend to have natural fungicides and insecticides; who knows what effect they may have on fish in a confined tank. I'd avoid pine and other softwoods; what with pitch and their easy tendancy to rot. But I think most hardwoods would be OK.

I bet those manzinita branches often used for bird perches would be pretty good.
 
Did you look at the date of this thread when it started? That was back in 2005. For the most part I think the argument has been solved or dropped. As far as driftwood is concerned, just use what you want that is safe for the tank and the fish living in the tank and you shoud be just fine.

Marinemom
 
heh

I know this is an old thread, but two points to make from my experience.

A. Knotted old fence posts make great driftwood. Just make sure they are creasoaked or anything.

B. If you take a piece out of a lake, be on the lookout for aquatic worms.
 
Did you look at the date of this thread when it started? That was back in 2005. For the most part I think the argument has been solved or dropped. As far as driftwood is concerned, just use what you want that is safe for the tank and the fish living in the tank and you shoud be just fine.

Marinemom

I know, I was just joking about the argement.

That fence post thing is a great idea!!!! Never even thought of that!
 
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