Using wood in the aquarium...

[JasonC]

So I have been trying to find info across the web regarding using branches/ leaves in aquariums, but I cant find a consensus regarding process... so hopefully you all can help me out with some questions.

I would like to go out to some of our local forests and harvest some oak branches and leaves for a tank I am trying to set up. I know that both are okay in a planted tank, so my questions are more about selection and prep:

- Can fresh cut wood be used in a tank, or should it be off the tree for a certain amount of time?
- If I make a fresh cut, is there any way to prep it to be tank ready in regards of curing?
- General consensus is bark off, right?
- Assuming that I want the tannins from the wood/ leaves in the tank, should I be boiling them, and for how long? Or, should I be using another method to sterilize?

thanks again for everyones help!

 

[tompoz]

Do not cut live branches, find the dead and dried out ones. Bark should be off. Then boil them in salted water for an hour or so.
Do not boil the leaves (obviously use only the dry ones), just soak them till they drown.

 

[JasonC]

Do not cut live branches, find the dead and dried out ones. Bark should be off. Then boil them in salted water for an hour or so.
Do not boil the leaves (obviously use only the dry ones), just soak them till they drown.

How much/what type of salt should be used? and what should I do to clean the leaves, or do they really not need it?

Thanks!

 

[gerald]

I use old dead hardwood roots, branches and leaves (oak, ash, maple, elm, hickory, beech, hackberry, etc). I soak them in a bucket until they sink (a couple days for leaves, days to weeks for wood) but I've never boiled them. I've even used Juniper (red cedar) stumps without problems, but I only take pieces that look really old and gray, and soak them for several weeks. Juniper is very long-lasting and has artful shapes. A friend of mine used a dead azalea bush and it looked really cool. Tom - do you boil to help it sink, or for other purposes?

 

[tompoz]

I do not clean the leaves, just soak till they drown. It is the only purpose.
Boiling the roots in salty water helps disinfecting them. I use regular kitchen salt, a tablespoon per one liter of water. Also, when boiled they sink faster.

 

[slimbolen99]

I boil or bake my dead oak leaves I collect in the fall, just to make sure I get any nasties killed (think catepillar eggs, or other bug's eggs, or other bugs, for that matter). Not sure it matters, but I do it. Boil them for about 30 minutes, and save the water for some blackwater! Or bake them at 250*F for a couple of hours.

 

[Mike Wise]

I've never boiled wood either. I do let it soak in a 1:10 solution of chlorine bleach:water until it sinks (add bleach every time the oder goes away) for at least a week. Then I continually rinse it every day for a week in water with a very heavy dose of dechlorinator to remove any residual chlorine bleach. Whether boiling or soaking the process tries to kill/remove any harmful agents on/in the wood.

 

[JasonC]

Thanks to everyone for the info... this gives me a couple of good pathways that I feel comfortable with. I definitely enjoy learning new stuff from such an intellegent group all around.

Best,

Jason