Driftwood

[limegirl]

Is driftwood any particular type of wood?

eg: We all like to give our BNs 'driftwood', but is it all a particular type of wood? You would think it would need to be a genus from the same environment.

Just thought it was an interesting question ...

[CThompson]

The term "driftwood" is used as a way of describing anything that washes up on shore. A piece of plywood could be called driftwood if found on a beach.

Wood that we put in our tanks needs to first and foremost not to contaminate the tank, and also needs to sink (waterlogged). That means if you find a piece of "driftwood" provided it is not half rotted and or has a host of living things now dead, it should be okay to put in tank.

Wood that has also soaked for a long time while it was drifting in the ocean has had time to leach a lot of its tannins, which is why I think "driftwood" is often regarded as fish tank suitable.

Bristlenose and their like need wood in their diet, not necessarily “driftwood”. For example the wood sold in aquarium as “mangrove stumps”, sinks and will not be toxic (though will have tannins in it) and look great. I have had this wood eaten to near transparency in the past by a pleco.

Can’t quite remember the word so some one is welcome to correct me, but it is the pectines (?) that wood contain that the BN need, and all wood suitable for an aquarium will have this.

Craig

[antz]

good post craig, that was really informative... you answered some questions i had aswell.

i use a few different types of wood - hollow log, some mangrove root im guessing and others are branch looking.. more solid looking that the roots.

im have no issues with any of them... my plecos and bn love them.

they leaked abit but i liked the stained look in some of the tanks. plus you can get products to soak up the tannin, if you dont like the look.