Woods to avoid - Aquarium Advice

somecallmedaniel16 · 09-10-2009, 08:43 PM

Hello all!

Out of curiosity and future reference, what are some woods (being used as driftwood) that should be avoided in a freshwater tank? Also, what kinds of woods can you commonly find - in, say, a forest - and use in a tank?

**neilanh** · 09-10-2009, 08:47 PM

You should use harder woods, stay away from the soft ones as they'll rot away

mgamer20o0 · 09-10-2009, 09:39 PM

you also want dead wood. one that was soaking in a clean lake river stream at that also.

FishEggs · 09-10-2009, 10:54 PM

stay away from pines

somecallmedaniel16 · 09-10-2009, 10:59 PM

do oaks do fine? they are hardwood, I believe. By the way, what about pines makes them unsuitable?

johnny_zanni · 09-11-2009, 10:50 AM

**jsoong** · 09-12-2009, 12:07 PM

All soft woods - wood from coniferous trees (ie evergreens) - are unsuitable. They have sap that may pollute your tank when new (esp. cedars), and rot quickly when aged.

Hard woods that had been aged a few seasons make good driftwood. Just watch out for poisonous ones (eg black walnut.)

This is a list of toxic wood for degus:
Toxic Wood List
You can ignore the ones with wood dust being skin irritants, but be careful on those with intrinsic toxins.