Byo-Shin304
Societal Downfall
I am surprised at how little anyone seems to know about driftwood.
It is not the cleaning that you should be concerned about. Cleaning is simple, as said above, you can bleach and boil it to try and get most of the colour/bad stuff out.
The reason why much of the driftwood from the beach is 'poor' for your aquarium is because of the type of wood it is! A good candidate for an aquarium is hardwoods. You CANNOT use soft woods because they 'deteriorate' too fast and that is why it seems so messy when you try to clean it.
There are a variety of species of hardwood that can be used for an aquarium and you may have some naturally in your area. If you want to try and find some natural driftwood for your tank, you would need to research the trees in your area and see if that type of wood is acceptable for an aquarium.
I know what kind of trees we have around here. I know to use hardwood, not softwoods.
But I have a lot of redwoods (northern Cal) and those LITTER the beach, literally. I believe their softwood though. There are oaks, spruce, and other varieties that I can't think about right now.
I just don't want something that will change the pH of my water. I would LOVE to have softer water so I can have real plants
razz If you want to change the ph you can best work with blackwater extracts, comercially available.
You can also try to experiment in softer water with almond leaves of peat. Some plants really like growing on peat.
Speaking of plants growing on things, java moss attaches rapidly to coconuts, but you are right that they aren't the most exiting woodsorts.
You could also try buying immitation wood? There are some pretty sorts sold in stores lately.
Reply
