novafishy Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 just out of curiosity, are eucalyptus tree branches safe to use in the tank? or will they leech out some sort of koala toxins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMill Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I would say that any branch that is still somewhat green is not really a good idea, and eucalpyts particularly so. I seem to remember that eucalyptus oil is quite toxic and personally wouldnt try it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquaman Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Doesn't sound like a good idea to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierced Soul Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 This is an issue I've never heard cleared up. I def think that fresh or green wood is no good. however, if u look at what stuff like melafix is...it's got eucalyptus in it.....so maybe it has something to do with levels of eucalyptusd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gutty Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Doesn't Melafix have eucalyptus in it ? Sure smells like it. Edit: Do'h, too slow again..........what P.Soul said ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 A friend put a 3 month old dired bit of eucalypt hardwood into his oscar tank, and within 3 hours they went off their food & started breathing heavy. He then soaked it for another month & tried it again with the same result - it's really not worth it IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emp1re Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 i have a 1m long log in my arrowana tank for 1 year now ,no problem so far. and melafix is made from eucalyptus oil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Other Ed Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Hi, Heres a link posted earlier this year with the same question. http://scp.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic...8&hl=eucalyptus Apparently its ok. I also use a few bits, no problems yet, touch wood HTH. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katanaone Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 what fish are in the tank? are they natives? cos natives in their natural environment have to deal with many fallen trees etc. and some even make their homes in fallen logs, and i would imagine not all of the fallen trees would be fully dead. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novafishy Posted July 1, 2004 Author Share Posted July 1, 2004 thanks for the replies guys , but there seems to be a big controversial (well not THAT controversial) issue about this whole eucaluptus wood being tank-safe. reading some of the posts, in my opinion, i'd rather be safe than sorry, just incase something drastic happens and kills off all your fish. and then u wake up one morning, and scratch your head and say **i wished i hadnt put that eucalyptus wood**. ryan, you have a point there, about not all fallen branches being dead branches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett4Perth Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Melafix is made from Melaleuca oils, this is a native Australian bush but not technically a eucalypt. Cheers Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Hi Guy's - Melafix has tea tree oil in - not Eucalyptus oil. While both oils come from plants which belong in the Myrtaceae family - they are very different plants (in different genera). Somewhat confusingly Tea tree oil comes from Melaleuca's (which is the genus which includes most trees ppl think of as "paperbarks"). The common name "Tea tree" is most often assigned to the Leptospermum genus. You can make your own version of Melafix using Tea tree oil - it works quite well. On the topic of Eucalpyt wood in tanks. I've used a range of wood from various Eucalyptus species in tanks with no problems at all, period. In ALL cases this is very old wood. I wouldn't recommend using fresh (green) wood from any tree in your tank (in fact I doubt I have ever used anything but Eucalyptus wood - not true actually, I did use a piece of old Banksia serrata (sp?) root at one point). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furrytoy Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 You could try boiling it for a few hours. This takes out a lot of the volatiles like tannins. I would imagine this might also take out any chemicals specific to eucalyptus. Also helps to kill any nasty moulds and bugs as well as waterloging the wood to make it sink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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