Wild Driftwood question

[Fromthelbc]

would there be a problem with me putting wild driftwood from a local lake into my 60gallon tank?

 

[WhiteDevil]

yes, you gotta boil it first.

then bake it


then you can

 

[dinokath]

Yeah, I agree. You don't want any nasties from the local lake in your tank! I'd be curious to know what temperature to bake it at though...

 

[Fromthelbc]

well... all my fish came from that lake... would it be okay then?

 

[gzeiger]

You should be on forum.nanfa.org for questions about that tank

Most likely it's fine, but it's rarely a bad practice to sterilize things you add to the tank either. A colony of harmful bacteria on a rotting log in a lake won't make much difference, but confined in a tank where the fish swim around within inches of the log for weeks on end may be different.

I wouldn't worry about it too much except to note that you need to be sure it's not leaching chemicals into the water. Newly dead wood can still contain sap that may be dangerous to the fish, depending on the species of tree it came from. I'd say drop it in a bucket of tap water overnight, and if it stains the water then I would boil it. If the water is still clear I'd go ahead and use it.

What kind of fish are you keeping in there?

 

[joy13]

Boil it to make sure you don't have any creepy crawlies like damselfly nymphs or leeches hiding in it. There is really no reason not to use it.

 

[Fromthelbc]

You should be on forum.nanfa.org for questions about that tank

Most likely it's fine, but it's rarely a bad practice to sterilize things you add to the tank either. A colony of harmful bacteria on a rotting log in a lake won't make much difference, but confined in a tank where the fish swim around within inches of the log for weeks on end may be different.

I wouldn't worry about it too much except to note that you need to be sure it's not leaching chemicals into the water. Newly dead wood can still contain sap that may be dangerous to the fish, depending on the species of tree it came from. I'd say drop it in a bucket of tap water overnight, and if it stains the water then I would boil it. If the water is still clear I'd go ahead and use it.

What kind of fish are you keeping in there?

1 large mouth bass
1 crappie
3 blue gill

i had a trout but he died...

 

[gzeiger]

Yeah, that's a pretty small tank for a trout, and they generally require a chiller. 60 gallons is going to be small for those remaining fish too when they reach full size. Please, if they get too big just eat one. Don't under any circumstances release them back into the lake. It's virtually guaranteed that after being in captivity they've been exposed to some tropical diseases brought in from the pet store that could be very damaging to the lake if introduced.

Damselfly/dragonfly nymphs and other hitchhikers would be quite welcome in that tank though. Record survival time for a damselfly in my native tank is about 12 seconds, and the average is less than 2.

 

[joy13]

When you said native tank I was thinking things like red lipped minnows, and seagreen darters, fish like that not the fish you have.

 

[gzeiger]

Sunfish are fun to keep too.

 

[Acer]

sun fish actually stay a little smaller that bluegill too, and are a bit less agressive, in last months? TFH magazine they had a whole article dedicated to native fish keeping.

 

[Fromthelbc]

Yeah, that's a pretty small tank for a trout, and they generally require a chiller. 60 gallons is going to be small for those remaining fish too when they reach full size. Please, if they get too big just eat one. Don't under any circumstances release them back into the lake. It's virtually guaranteed that after being in captivity they've been exposed to some tropical diseases brought in from the pet store that could be very damaging to the lake if introduced.

Damselfly/dragonfly nymphs and other hitchhikers would be quite welcome in that tank though. Record survival time for a damselfly in my native tank is about 12 seconds, and the average is less than 2.

if they get too big, im giving them to my friend for his 250 gallon pond...

 

[gzeiger]

Sunfish is a family, not a species. Bluegill, crappie and bass are all types of sunfish. Those tend to be, in my opinion, the uglier and meaner species and there are some strikingly beautiful ones out there, but I do keep a couple bluegill myself and they add a nice variety to a tank with other sunfish. If you like watching them eat minnows it's tough to beat a bass.

Unfortunately it's hard to obtain them legally since usually the fish and game laws require them to be caught on a hook to keep (good job DNR ).

 

[Fromthelbc]

Sunfish is a family, not a species. Bluegill, crappie and bass are all types of sunfish. Those tend to be, in my opinion, the uglier and meaner species and there are some strikingly beautiful ones out there, but I do keep a couple bluegill myself and they add a nice variety to a tank with other sunfish. If you like watching them eat minnows it's tough to beat a bass.

Unfortunately it's hard to obtain them legally since usually the fish and game laws require them to be caught on a hook to keep (good job DNR ).

its easy enough to catch them without hurting them, use a barbless fly fishing hook, with a little tiny doughball, you'll catch them un-harmed. and i have one sunfish(im pretty sure he's a male), that has almost every color in the rainbow on him...

 

[gzeiger]

I know it's possible, it's just a stupid law. They'll survive just fine, but you can't tell me it doesn't hurt them.

Make sure your friend is on board with your plans for his pond I wouldn't be very willing to sacrifice a pond like that to somebody else's overgrown bass. You might also find some people who are into these kinds of tanks over at monsterfishkeepers.com.

 

[WhiteDevil]

LBC, got pics?


Some of mine are one here, got some of those same fish in my work tanks( twin 9k gallons)

How big are they now? are they legal?


If they are under a size limit for the body of water or per DNR's laws you might be in some trouble, I had to get rid of my fingerling largemouths a few years back cause they were taken illegally( minnow net in a river for bait) and were under legal size.

I bake mine in the BBQ on foil around 250 degrees for 4 hours. the foil keeps it from getting burnt up and does a nice job drying out in there.

 

[gzeiger]

Whatever, they're taken now. If they're undersized you still can't turn them loose, and there's no sense killing them.

When I first read that post I couldn't figure out why you would want to dry it out... took me a couple minutes to realize you meant driftwood and not bass

I don't think you want to dry it out. You want it to sink. Maybe if you were putting it in a tropical tank where you really needed it sterile, but I don't think that's necessary here.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

Yeah, that's a pretty small tank for a trout, and they generally require a chiller. 60 gallons is going to be small for those remaining fish too when they reach full size. Please, if they get too big just eat one. Don't under any circumstances release them back into the lake. It's virtually guaranteed that after being in captivity they've been exposed to some tropical diseases brought in from the pet store that could be very damaging to the lake if introduced.

Damselfly/dragonfly nymphs and other hitchhikers would be quite welcome in that tank though. Record survival time for a damselfly in my native tank is about 12 seconds, and the average is less than 2.

Please dont ever suggest that again... fish in a home aquarium is not what a human needs to consume. with the foods we feed them, and the chemicals that we use in the tanks. it is NOT recommended to eat any home aquaria fish.

 

[Fromthelbc]

i mean, when it comes down it, i'd rather get a bigger tank than eat one of my pets... seriously. its not that hard to find a cheap used craigslist tank. mine was essentially free, and took only a little bit of cleaning.

 

[gzeiger]

That was tongue-in-cheek, but I suppose that never comes through online. I don't put any chemicals in my tank except sodium thiosulfate though. What do you use that you wouldn't eat?