What type of wood(s) are these?

[meese-a-mew]

Hi all,
Just need some help identifying and if they're safe for aquariums. these pieces of wood I found at a lake. The first pic are full shots and the second pics are close up.



Meese

 

[meese-a-mew]

Some more..


Meese

 

[meese-a-mew]

And the last ones..


Meese

 

[jarrod0987]

I don't know but they are gorgeous Keep in mind putting wood in your aquarium may or may not turn the water yellow. It is caused by chemical know as tanins. They are not harmful. They actually bind heavy metals in the water which are harmful. You can use activated carbon to remove the yellowing if you wish. Also...You could try pre soaking them. There is much paranoia in the hobby and many will tell you OMG don't do that. Unless someone sprayed herbicides and pesticides all over this wood it will most likely be just fine. May float a bit until it gets water logged.

 

[meese-a-mew]

I don't know but they are gorgeous Keep in mind putting wood in your aquarium may or may not turn the water yellow. It is caused by chemical know as tanins. They are not harmful. They actually bind heavy metals in the water which are harmful. You can use activated carbon to remove the yellowing if you wish. Also...You could try pre soaking them. There is much paranoia in the hobby and many will tell you OMG don't do that. Unless someone sprayed herbicides and pesticides all over this wood it will most likely be just fine. May float a bit until it gets water logged.

Yah I read on the AA forum page about natural decor and it says some wood isn't good for aquariums so I just wanna make sure mine are those types. Don't really wanna kill my discus LOL


Meese

 

[PoppaRyno]

Thought i would add to just make sure its not super soft wood. It could decompose and send lil wooden bits through out the tank and jam the filters etc.... IMO Thats why you mainly see harder woods out there for sale. Other than that i say go for it. Discus will love it if its safe.lowers ph, gives them a more natural balance, and the tannins will leach, like was already stated, but they dont care. WCs will knock that out. Gotta Keep dem disci happy.

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[cgthebeast]

The 2nd piece from the first post looks a lot like a pine based off the knots in it an the way it looks like it grown. The rest I can't tell though exactly except the first one it looks like some type of hard wood based on the grain

 

[meese-a-mew]

Is pine safe?


Meese

 

[Brookster123]

Pine is a big no in aquaria

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[Nils]

As long as you can't press your fingernail into it and it isn't soft, spongy wood you should be fine. Check for termites too but it doesn't look to me like there are any. Also boil and soak before putting it in the tank.

 

[candymancan]

If the wood is soft, and can crumbled by your hands and fingers or nails dont use it.. as its rotting..

To find out if the wood is safe.. Boil it, youll smell the pine easily and you will see the sap leaking in the boiling water.. I advice you boil all wood anyway. Also you might like me have to use stones or figure out a way to keep it from floating.. Mine was easy, i put 2-3 slate stones on top and lined the bottom with watersprite the first pic is when i first put it in now its coverd in watersprite so you dont see the slate. I love thsi stump with the root system i found it has like 20 cave entrances and my discus all hide under it when they get scared or when they go to sleep at night they all huddle together under it


I found this bad boy in the reservoir where i live like 20 feet from my house.. Its been in my 92g for months and doesnt cause a single issue or leach tannins. My peice of driftwood is massive.. I had to buy one of those big metal tubs you use to wash dogs in and put it over top of 2 burners on my stove.. and thats the only way i was able to boil it.. i had to flip it over to 4 sides to get every peices boiled... I boiled each side for like 30 minutes..


There is another BEAUTIFUL peice i have.. absolutetly stunning i love it, sadly when i started to boil it it made the water yellow and it smelled of fresh pine once it started to boil. When i took it out sap was leaching out of the wood.. so sadly i cannot use it in my fish tanks, but i use it as a table top decoration now.. I wouldnt worry about pesticides or oil or run off.. Trust me lol my little part of the reservoir i live in has a cove where driftwood drifts into so there are like a billion logs and would and broken docks there.. There is also lots of trash, and the street run off when it rains, runs in the drains and eventually down in that cove... the association also uses pesticides in our neighborhood and i have no doubt it runs off in that water... Boiling it for long periods of time will kill all parasites, spiders, bugs... Mine had an ant colony in it lol.. And should also remove all the oil or whatever else it has, assuming it has that

 

[meese-a-mew]

Those are really nice pieces ?

I hope that 2nd piece isn't pine cos I really like it...
I'll do tests tomorrow and hope lol
Do any of the other branches look like no nos for aquariums
Thanks for the help so far guys.


Meese

 

[jarrod0987]

Pine is a big no in aquaria

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It's a good point. I forgot about pine and pine oil. If it has a strong smell like pine or ceder then forget about it.