blondiefella Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Hi Everone, On the topic of driftwood, what i want to know is: If you find a nice piece on the beach is it safe to wash off and use in a tropical tank?? Also if you found some around lake taupo or on a river bank would that be safe once cleaned?? I have often seen a nice bit of drift wood on the beach and it has crossed my mind once or twice that it would look great in a tank, but I was told in a shop that you can never do it and you need to buy it from a store, or is that a trick to make you buy from the shop. Yes granted its safer getting it from the shop but if you have a large tank just buying huge pieces of driftwood could get rather expensive for something that is a natural resource. And I dont like taking Pet Store words for granted, as their answers can very alot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 If it's soft wood I don't think it's going to work, I think it rots(someone correct me if I'm wrong?). But If it's hard wood it should be fine. You would need to soak it and make It waterlogged so it sinks and will most likely get rid of some tannins. You need to sterilize it, preferably with boiling water and a little bleach. Don't cut down on this step as the wood will carry lots of parasites and other bad stuff you don't want. I will clarify some more tomorrow, tired now :yaw1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#!CrunchBang Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 You can use driftwood, you have to soak it so it'll sink, which can take some time. A denser piece of wood will work better. It'll also take a while to sink, and during that time you'd need to change the water to remove tannins and anything else that has soaked out. The store was trying to get you to buy from them :an!gry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 All my driftwood has come from the beach. I get mine from the river mouths on west coast beaches. It is usually native hardwood (rata or rimu) that has washed down from the rivers. It is already well waterlogged. All I do is wash it off with the hose to get the sand, salt and greeblies off it. You need to check there are no soft, rotting bits on it that will break off and float about the tank looking unsightly and eventually clogging the filter. Other wise it is fine. Some wood will not be so waterlogged so may need a bit of boiling to help it sink. Boil it for about 20 minutes in water which has some baking soda added. I believe this helps release air bubbles which stop it sinking. You must rinse very thoroughly after this to make sure all the soda has gone or it will alter the pH a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 I have never paid for a piece of wood. The store down this way sell "Aquarium Safe Driftwood" which is actually just wood that a staff member has collected from the beach and soaked till it sinks. As for washing it, It only really needs washing if it has mud, dirt, sand on it if it is from a saltwater area and maybe a quick salt bath or dip in boiling water if from freshwater. The amount of salt from the beach in the wood is nowhere near enough to give any issues and the only reason for dipping or boiling freshwater stuff is to kill any freshwater parasites that it may be housing. The biggest issue as stated is getting it to sink. I have a large water drum outside that I just throw pieces in that I find until I find a use for them This is also handy to harvest mosquito larvae from. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted August 14, 2011 Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 The issue that I have with driftwood off the beach: I collect too much of it, and my 4ft tank is too small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondiefella Posted August 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 Thanks so much everyone for your reply's. I thought it was a ploy to get me to buy it from the shop. Ha looks like the dogs will be getting more walks alone the beach :slfg:, and I think that idea with a drum is great especially to breed mozi larvae and kill to birds with one stone, so i think i will be off to get a drum aswell> bummer i just got rid of my 50L home brew drum that would have been perfect for medium to small pieces. thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondiefella Posted December 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 Hi again back on the drift wood. Has anyone tried tea tree. as its a fairly hard wood and should sink fairly well. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 The term hardwood relates to the cell structure rather than how hard the wood is. Totara and kauri are hardwoods but are very soft (and therefore easy to carve with a relatively blunt greenstone tool). Hardwoods are best because they are less likely to rot but there are some native woods which are toxic (not sure about toxicicity to fish from the wood) such as tutu and ongaonga. Introduced trees such as yew and macrocarpa and acorns from oak trees can be toxic to stock but also not sure about toxicity to fish by wood. The imported driftwood in the shops are hardwoods from swamps I would think (other than locally sourced stuff). The best part is usually the root structure of Rata, matai, rimu etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 Hi again back on the drift wood. Has anyone tried tea tree. as its a fairly hard wood and should sink fairly well. cheers I use tea tree in my tanks... it has some awesome shapes... I pretty much cut it to size, give it a scrub and chuck it in the water... had no issues. It releases tannins, as a lot of wood will, but as the fish I have like tannnins in the water it is no drama, I don't even try to remove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 I guess the worse that could happen is that you would dose the tank with free malaleuca (tea tree or manuka). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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