Woods to avoid

[somecallmedaniel16]

Hello all!

Out of curiosity and future reference, what are some woods (being used as driftwood) that should be avoided in a freshwater tank? Also, what kinds of woods can you commonly find - in, say, a forest - and use in a tank?

 

[neilanh]

You should use harder woods, stay away from the soft ones as they'll rot away

 

[mgamer20o0]

you also want dead wood. one that was soaking in a clean lake river stream at that also.

 

[FishEggs]

stay away from pines

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

do oaks do fine? they are hardwood, I believe. By the way, what about pines makes them unsuitable?

 

[johnny_zanni]

sap

 

[jsoong]

All soft woods - wood from coniferous trees (ie evergreens) - are unsuitable. They have sap that may pollute your tank when new (esp. cedars), and rot quickly when aged.

Hard woods that had been aged a few seasons make good driftwood. Just watch out for poisonous ones (eg black walnut.)

This is a list of toxic wood for degus:
Toxic Wood List
You can ignore the ones with wood dust being skin irritants, but be careful on those with intrinsic toxins.