New Driftwood

[IowaFish]

This may be a newb question but I was wondering, if I could just use actual driftwood and rocks from a local river in my 10 gal. tank if I boiled and cleaned them first...Would this be a problem? I thought it would maybe look a little more natural and save a few bucks Also, will I need an air pump or air stones for this 10gal. tank?

I am just starting out, and I have a 5 gal. tank right now with a couple tentras in right now...I will be using this in my dorm room, and any other advice you can give that would be great

Thanks!

 

[jsoong]

I use collected driftwood in my tank too & it's been fine. Key to not having problems is:

1. collect the right kind of wood - well aged, hardwood preferably <eg birch/aspen in my necks of the woods>, avoid potentially toxic species (highly aromatic wood like cedar, green pine with lots of pith, perhaps things like black walnut that has toxins to kill nearby plants).

2. collect from non polluted source <beware pesticide use - residues are know to kill fish!> boil & clean throughly. You might want to soak the wood in a bucket for a few weeks to leach out the tannins. I also sun dry mine in addition to kill off potential bugs ... others bake theirs in the oven!

3. collected driftwood might take a long time to sink - mine took over 1 year. I weight it down with a rock (attached with stainless screws from the bottom) in the meantime. I guess my wood is less dense than the malaysian ironwood that is sold in the lfs .... but it is free!

 

[talloulou]

Yeah unless you know alot about trees it can be hard to identify the types of driftwood you find locally. If you choose the wrong types of wood they can rot in the aquarium. I thought about looking for my own wood and then decided to buy wood since I'm not an expert on wood. There are many dense woods for sale for use in aquariums that will sink immediately and you won't have to worry about water logging it or weighing it down.

 

[IowaFish]

Well I found some rocks and a nice piece of driftwood to use for my 10gal. tank...I'm going to give it the old college try and after a couple cycles of bleaching and letting it dry for a few days. I will see how it goes, I will put some pictures up after a while...thanks for the help everyone. I enjoy the forums here

 

[Legacy]

I've used Lava rock that I found before. Just boiled it really well and no problems.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you can use vinegar to test the rocks too. If you put vinegar on the rock and it bubbles or fizzes, it could raise your ph. Rocks like white quarts, granite, lava, and slate are fine, no need to test them. But if you are not sure of the rock, before adding it, test it to see if it might potentially raise your ph. If not, then add and keep a close eye on the ph til you are satisfied.