ejaramillo01
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thanks to all for the detailed help here!
Balsa is technically a hardwood, even though it is the softest common wood. But still no good for aquariums
An example of wood that will leach .toxins into your rank is cedar. It is still possible to use though. I have a nice peice of cedar in one of my tanks, took alot of prep though.
Also at least around here pet stores sell chunks of grape vine as "wood" for reptile tanks. It makes a hellova mess when you try to use it in an aquarium.
Grape vine is what we call it, don't know it's scientific name.
Most cedar is fine for aquaria as long as you just collect old branches and stumps:
Effects of Cedar diftwood on a planted tank.
Grape vine isn't the best wood for aquaria but it's still useable. Just soak it before you use it....The stuff is notorious for rotting under water but most people I've seen have had fine success with it after the initial fungusing.
Shadowraven said:Sounds good. It seems like you did what you should have to prepare it.
Only one question. If this is your reptile wood, did you check to see if it had been treated with any chemicals?
Well, this is still kind of on topic... But how would you go about boiling driftwood from saltwater, for a freshwater aquarium?
Shadowraven said:From my understanding you would need to soak it longer than normal. Soak it for a few days with regular water changes to allow the salt to precipitate out of the wood. Otherwise prep for it should be the same as another other piece of wood. Boiling it longer with a couple of water changes would probably also work.
A little salt in the wood shouldn't be too harmful to your fish anyway, unless you have salt sensitive fish like corydoras.
Just an update.
The south African root, that I bought at Petco under the reptile section, is not affecting my water quality in the tank at all. After 36 hours in the tank, no leach of colors, no changes on pH, and no issues with my fish.
My SAE love it.