Cedar Driftwood

[Sake]

Okay so about a month or so ago, I came across the perfect piece of driftwood. Been letting it soak and I figured to speed things along I would drill a few holes into the wood to let the water into the center of the driftwood. Long story short smells like cedar when I drilled it. Now I know most of you say you can't use cedar, but I came across this on TPT by Tom Barr.

Western cedar, used it and have had some for over two years, never an issue.

Rule: old well soaked wood, really does not matter what type of wood, as long as it's old, well seasoned, not fresh etc, removed the rot/soft stuff etc.

If you have not collected any driftwood, why tell others about all the risk, without explaining the common sense behind it? Use only old long dead wood, well soaked, cut off the rot/soft stuff, brush/sand blast etc. Use AC if you have a lot of tannins(which is often good for most fish and reduces toxicity of metals etc).

As far anti fungal chemicals, Boron is one and we add that, so is Primafix, Melax etc, it does not imply that these are in anyway bad for fish.

The water also leaches these out a lot faster than damp air.
Activated carbon easily removes medications like those about, which are anti fungal plant based chemicals also from trees........., so do regular water changes.

Here's my toxic stew using western root cedar:



No issues, well soaked, still smells a little of cedar, old, I used carbon to get rid of the yellowing in the start, but have not since.

There's a lot of wood in there relative to tank size also.

Regards,
Tom Barr
__________________
Regards,
Tom Barr
==========================================

So give me your opinions use it or pitch it? Oh and it is drift wood, not just some random piece of wood i found in the woods, was washed ashore only reason i knew it was cedar was because of the drilling.

 

[MABJ]

Is there any rot/really soft stuff on the inside? I'm looking for some tiny driftwood myself.

 

[Sake]

Well it's somewhat hollow inside, the stuff that is left is almost petrified, it was bogging down my work drill just to get through it. Also this is for my 29 gallon, not my shrimp tank so it's rather large, I'd say about 2 1/2 foot long, 1 foot tall, and 8 to 10 inches thick.

 

[jetajockey]

My only concern with using cedar is not knowing whether it leaches something harmful to stock. If it's been soaked for a long time it's less likely to be an issue, if it was an issue at all to begin with. I respect what Tom Barr says, he's one of my favorite go-to planted tank gurus. But even still, I don't know if any tests have been done on how cedar affects animals. I know that cedar is often used in natural pesticide materials so that's why it is a cause for concern with me.

If you do use it keep us updated on how it goes, hopefully it'll work out just fine.

 

[Coursair]

Cedar scares me. I've seen Cedar bedding kill hamsters and birds and reptiles. I'm sure if it's been underwater for years it's relatively harmless. Since you don't have Shrimp, that's good. Let us know if you use it and if you like it.

 

[Sake]

Yeah he had a pic that had cardinal tetras in with cedar drift wood, said he had it set up for 2 years and the tank looked like it still had some tanins leeching into it. Can't say that the tanins were from the cedar for sure, but the piece I have has never leeched any into the soaking water, so I'm fairly sure it is safe. Once I get the darn thing to sink (too big for slate or to be weighed down with rocks) I'll let you know how my fish react.

 

[Tetra1990]

You could try tiring it down. Get some egg crate, fishing line and loop it around and tie it off.

 

[Sake]

It would just pull the egg crate up, I have 2 20ish lbs rocks holding it down. It's a rather large piece. I think i may split it down the middle let it soak up water quicker and use dow rods to put it back together later. The problem is it's so dense that water isn't getting to the center. When I drilled it, the shavings were bone dry after soaking for over a month

 

[Coursair]

It would just pull the egg crate up, I have 2 20ish lbs rocks holding it down. It's a rather large piece. I think i may split it down the middle let it soak up water quicker and use dow rods to put it back together later. The problem is it's so dense that water isn't getting to the center. When I drilled it, the shavings were bone dry after soaking for over a month

Tom Barr was recommending old well soaked wood. Yours may be old, but well soaked ??

Tom gets some amazing wood. I got some Manzanita from him at a meeting, he was giving a talk on CO2 and Ferts and Light. He has gorgeous tanks.

 

[Sake]

Yeah It was in a snarl of driftwood. All the bark was stripped off already. It had just dried out because of being on land. I love in a flood zone, that's why it was on land.

 

[Wy Renegade]

I also would be curious to see what you find. I've always avoided the cedar because everyone says the conifers will make the water drop in pH, and I want my water to have a higher pH. If you end up using it, be sure and keep us advised on any and all effects on water chemistry.

 

[Sake]

Will do, if the darn thing ever sinks lol.

 

[Wade91789]

Any updates?