Question about driftwod

[squeekness]

I went to the local Petco and had a peek around. I noticed they were selling two kinds of driftwood -- some in tanks already soaked with what was no doubt the germy-est water known to man. Then they were selling some driftwood dry and in bags, sterilized and clean and all that -- in the reptile section. I was wondering, is it okay to put reptile driftwood in a fish tank? It said it was all clean and processed and all that jazz. It was also half the price of the other stuff and not contaminated with their tank water. Anyone know if it makes a difference?

 

[kickeralpine]

reptile driftwood doesnt like to sink trust me i had mine sitting for 6 months finally got mad and when i resealed my tank i siliconed it down lol . the stuff they got in the water is what ya want i know the water looks yellow but thats all the stuff coming out of the driftwood when ya buy a piece it needs to be BOILED first before ya put it in your tank it will kill and insects that may be in it and will help get out the acids in the wood whitch will turn your tank yellow if ya dont . hope this helps. cant remember the name of the driftwood that is really good to buy sure someone here will tell ya it sinks quick if boiled .

 

[Jarred Darque]

The yellow water is good for most fish though. It does lowe the PH, which is kinda bad for snails, but it greatly reduces mortality rates. Tannins are very good at getting rid of funguses, ich, parasites and many other problems. I actually find alot of driftwood to be a good solution to hleping a sick tank.

But, the water is very dark in a tank like mine (I have about 50 lbs of DW in my 75) I like the look though, most people dont. But most of my fish like dark conditions.

 

[Gillie]

I keep unboiled Malaysian driftwood in my S.A. spawning tanks, it's also in my Quarantine tanks.

 

[David14259]

For my Malaysian driftwood, I boiled for 2 hours, soaked it for 24 hours, boiled another 2 hours, and another 24 hours soak. This removed the vast majority of the tannins (that turn the water yellow/brown) and hopefully killed any bacteria in the wood.

I also sanded down any sharp points to make sure the fish couldn't get their fins caught.

 

[slroo]

Squeekness, the reptile wood is most likely grapewood. I bought a piece of it, thinking I could substitute it for the Malaysian driftwood which is more expensive. It never did sink, and after a while, a white fungus started growing on it. I've heard other people say this happened to them too. I don't know if it would have been harmful, but I yanked it outta my tank and bought some malaysian instead. It sank like a rock, and my pleco loves it.

 

[squeekness]

Won't sink. Check. That had occurred to me, I was just hoping someone here had tried it so I would know for sure. Thanks, guys!

Actually, the water in the Petco tanks looked great, I just don't trust their filtration systems for so many tanks. I don't know if there is any cross contamination. Way I see it, if I bought wood that was sitting in their tanks, it would be no different than having actually bought an actual fish. Only you can't quarenteen wood, right?

 

[kickeralpine]

well i went to petco today and the stuff in the bags is not driftwood think it is grapewood also i dont know what the name of my driftwood wood its a huge piece and it didnt want to sink when i bought it the guys said could be used for fish or reptile so who knows but i siliconed it down and looks great. but i wouldnt buy the stuff in the bags at petco in reptile area i could be wrong but doesnt really look to be driftwood

 

[Jarred Darque]

Quarantining driftwood likely wont do anything...but unlike fish..you can boil it and it will still be ok (well, I can boil fish and it is ok too I like fish )

 

[squeekness]

Yum... fish chowder with a side of driftwood!

Yeah, if I buy any of their wood I would definatley boil before putting it in my tank.