DIY driftwood, how????

[AquatiCreations]

Thats exactly what i was saying.Er trying to say when i was talking about the majority of the bark is off. But i dont use a piece of wood unless the are critters under it,ontop of it,because its a sign that it isnt safe.Most of the well preserved softwoods such as pines,have been sumbereged deep in cold waters often more than 100 years.,that being said if you find a run-of -themill pine tree that has fallen due to rot, i advise against placing it into your aquaria. Now a pine that is still in the earth but dead nonetheless is a different story.

 

[Notophthalmus]

Whoops, sorry, I meant to address that last post to Kuhlifan, not you, AC. I get confused sometimes.

Pine sap is toxic, and pine wood rots quickly when moist, so avoid pine if at all possible; same goes for spruce and fir.

 

[AquatiCreations]

the main thing here is i want to lead this guy to a reliable piece of wood that he will be happy with,i dont want him going out in the field and picking up an iffy piece of wood that could lead to a tank disaster,Like noto said.Avoid softwoods if your smart.

 

[wataugachicken]

if you press the wood with your fingernail and it leaves a big dent, don't keep the wood. you want it to either not dent at all or just a tiny barely noticeable amount. if you can dent it, it's too soft, probably pine, and is just going to fall apart eventually. do it in a couple places on the wood to make sure you're not just hitting a rotten spot. if you do get a good piece that does have a few rotten spots, just use a dremel or something to drill out all the bad wood.

 

[j_chicago]

Takashi Amano had an article in this month's issue (July 2008) of TFH about using locally found driftwood for the aquarium (and rocks too).

Some major points he made:
Don't use driftwood that is light for its size. Driftwood with soft parts will rot and grow fungus. Driftwood that is only the hard, heavy core portion is the best. Don't use wood that is brittle or crumbles.

Treating wood by boiling it, as usually suggested, is usually not practical and can cause the wood to be unusable by melting the resins and raising them to the surface. Scrub the wood with a brush, this will also remove any remaining soft spots. You can soak it if you want to leech some tannins and allow it to soak up water to help it sink.

Sure there were other points, but those are the major ones, you should just buy the mag.
Again, these are T. Amano's suggestions, not mine, I've always just bought mine at the store.

 

[excuzzzeme]

Would these same guidelines apply to diftwood found along the coast? What effect will being in ocean water have upon it?

 

[j_chicago]

Amano also mentioned finding wood in rivers and oceans, but didn't mention anything different about ocean driftwood.

 

[DAVIDFBT]

Yeah, I found some cool looking driftwood along the ocean, and I don't know how to treat it. I think a freshwater boil/soak would though.

 

[Notophthalmus]

Probably. So long as you get most of the salt out, there shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Star_Rider]

Your statement is correct, SR, but your taxonomy is off; none of those softwoods are in the Pinaceae, and the different types of cypress, cedar, etc. are full species, not subspecies. When people use cypress and cedar in tanks, they usually are using baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) and eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana); other trees with similar names have very different woods (which may be unsuitable for tanks) and are in fact not closely related to those two species.

Sorry, I'm a geek. :grinyes:

More to the point- AC, if you can find a bone-like piece of driftwood that is already bleached gray and has all the bark worn away, that is ideal; this
means that any potentially toxic resins have all ready leached out, and the more readily-decaying parts of the wood have already decayed.

my fault for not proof reading.

all are of the division Pinophyta-coniferae order-pinales

btw not all pines are prone to rotting so easily.
many have a wet habitat that are not cupressaceae(cypress-common)
western hemlock and douglas fir(pseudottsuga-false fir-)

the point is these are softwoods(misnamed) as it is really the structure of the wood that makes it different than 'hardwoods'
in many cases softwoods are harder than hardwoods. both hardwood and softwood use chemicals to combat insects and bacteria.

the age of the tree has quite a bit to do with the integrity of the wood itself.

as does the exposure to time it.
both hardwoods and softwoods can make nice decorations in the aquarium if properly handled. and as stated "More to the point- AC, if you can find a bone-like piece of driftwood that is already bleached gray and has all the bark worn away, that is ideal; this
means that any potentially toxic resins have all ready leached out, and the more readily-decaying parts of the wood have already decayed."

can make a fine addition