Safe Wood For My Fish Tank?

[FishyWater2525]

Hi!

I was out today and saw some branches lying around a bunch of trees, and I thought they would look cool in my fish tank. The specific ones I liked were dogwood, but I'm not sure if this is aquarium safe...
Do any of you know if I could put Dogwood in my tank?
Also, how would I go about preparing it for the the tank, and what are some other safe woods besides driftwood to put in the tank?
Could I put small pieces in a Betta tank?
Sorry for all the questions!!!!!
Thanks!!!

 

[Mebbid]

Basically, driftwood refers to any wood that has been weathered over time. This will leach a lot of the chemicals out of the wood as well as stripping the bark. You really don't want to add any fresh woods to your tank as they can and usually will foul the water. What I do is in the spring right after all the snow melts is head down to the local river and scavenge for driftwood that got deposited on the shores. There is usually a huge build up of driftwood that is very nice for aquarium use.

What you are looking for in wood is some that is well weathered, solid (push your fingernail in and if it doesn't sink in it's a good choice), and not crumbling from rot. Another place to check is downed trees as their roots can offer some really interesting shapes.