# What kind of wood should I be looking for?



## wondabread (Apr 23, 2009)

I think Oak has been mentioned as tank safe. As for rocks, people sometimes use the vinegar test. I don't think it works enough to trust the results. To find out if a rock will change water parameters, put a drop or two of muriatic acid (I _think)_ on the rock. If it bubbles, don't use it.

I am from Poughkeepsie, but now live in PA. Nice to see someone from my neck of the woods!


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

wondabread said:


> I think Oak has been mentioned as tank safe. As for rocks, people sometimes use the vinegar test. I don't think it works enough to trust the results. To find out if a rock will change water parameters, put a drop or two of muriatic acid (I _think)_ on the rock. If it bubbles, don't use it.
> 
> I am from Poughkeepsie, but now live in PA. Nice to see someone from my neck of the woods!


Thanks, I think I'm going to just wing it with the vinegar because I'm only 16 and I have no clue what muriatic acid is or where I could get it.


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## wondabread (Apr 23, 2009)

You can get muriatic acid from Lowe's or Home Depot. Instead of vinegar, just put some water in bucket, test the pH, record result, put rocks in, and test it over a few days. If it changes, don't use the rocks.

Vinegar can give you a false result.

Good luck.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

wondabread said:


> You can get muriatic acid from Lowe's or Home Depot. Instead of vinegar, just put some water in bucket, test the pH, record result, put rocks in, and test it over a few days. If it changes, don't use the rocks.
> 
> Vinegar can give you a false result.
> 
> Good luck.


alright, i'll look into it. i'm going to home depot over the weekend anyways to get some Schultz Aquatic Soil. Would you happen to know if they would have sand capable of being in an aquarium?


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> alright, i'll look into it. i'm going to home depot over the weekend anyways to get some Schultz Aquatic Soil. Would you happen to know if they would have sand capable of being in an aquarium?


I don't believe so.. but maybe they do.


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## wondabread (Apr 23, 2009)

nickcamp12345 said:


> alright, i'll look into it.  i'm going to home depot over the weekend anyways to get some Schultz Aquatic Soil. Would you happen to know if they would have sand capable of being in an aquarium?


40 or 50lbs bag of play sand. Cost is about $3. You need to rinse it for like an hour, when you're done, rinse it for another hour. Get it?


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## kozlany (Feb 25, 2009)

Hardwood is trees like oak, maple, apple, ash. Softwoods are the conifers like various pines.

It's been a long time since I left LI but there used to be some sections of farmingdale that had huge old sugar maples. Check under them. Old apple trees also make for some nifty shaped branches.

Stay away from black walnut and it's close kin. It is aleopathic and very poisonous to normal farm livestock so I wouldn't chance it in a tank no matter how weathered the wood is.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

kozlany said:


> Hardwood is trees like oak, maple, apple, ash. Softwoods are the conifers like various pines.
> 
> It's been a long time since I left LI but there used to be some sections of farmingdale that had huge old sugar maples. Check under them. Old apple trees also make for some nifty shaped branches.
> 
> Stay away from black walnut and it's close kin. It is aleopathic and very poisonous to normal farm livestock so I wouldn't chance it in a tank no matter how weathered the wood is.


thanks a lot. theres a bunch of apple orchards in new paltz so next time im up i'll ask to go.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

i also have a quick question. my friend brought over some play sand that has been sitting in his sandbox for a good 10 years. its regular play sand so if i were to rinse it, sift it, boil it enough times, will it be suitable for aquarium use? i took some out of the bucket im using and put it in a water bottle and im going to test it in a couple of days. is this a good aproach or should i just forget that whole idea?


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## wondabread (Apr 23, 2009)

If you make sure it's nice and clean I don't see where there would be a problem - but, personally, I wouldn't do it.

Play sand is cheaper than dirt...literally. $3 or so for 40lbs.

Give it a shot and see how you like it.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

wondabread said:


> If you make sure it's nice and clean I don't see where there would be a problem - but, personally, I wouldn't do it.
> 
> Play sand is cheaper than dirt...literally. $3 or so for 40lbs.
> 
> Give it a shot and see how you like it.


 
its the play sand itself. he made sure that he didnt scoop too far down. im going to boil it for about 20 minutes so it should hopefully be good. im only boiling it because it came from outside and the bacteria could cause a problem. thanks for the help.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

kozlany said:


> Hardwood is trees like oak, maple, apple, ash. Softwoods are the conifers like various pines.
> 
> It's been a long time since I left LI but there used to be some sections of farmingdale that had huge old sugar maples. Check under them. Old apple trees also make for some nifty shaped branches.
> 
> Stay away from black walnut and it's close kin. It is aleopathic and very poisonous to normal farm livestock so I wouldn't chance it in a tank no matter how weathered the wood is.


 
what about dogwood?


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## vegasMatt (Sep 6, 2008)

Nick, my limited experience:

1) Play sand: sure, why not? I use it in my shrimp tank, prepared it by running it through a paint strainer, to get rid of the finer stuff. Even the big grains will get blown around with strong circulation at the substrate, but my RCS love sifting through it.
Although sand can lead to a breakout of brown diatom algae (mine did), but it can be eliminated with relative ease.

2) Wood: I personally don't trust anything other than driftwood. If you have access to it in the wild, great. If not, the folks at http://manzanita.com/aqwood.htm are great, and all their aquarium stock has been cleaned and sandblasted. The pics on their site do not do it justice, so attached is one from when I was setting up my Mini-L. They sent a box of that stuff, all awesome, depending on your scaping plan.

I have also gotten driftwood from eBay, billed as "Malaysian driftwood." I don't know if this stuff was truly Malaysian or even what that means, but it was a disaster, leaked tannins for the six months I put up with it, was soft and degradable to the end. [shudder]

Hope this helps, good luck!


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

Thats an awesome piece of wood. Ordering online isn't an option so I guess im going to actually have to try and find some. lol


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## kid creole (Dec 25, 2008)

wondabread said:


> Play sand is cheaper than dirt...literally. $3 or so for 40lbs.


I've gotta disagree here. I just bought 1800 pounds of dirt today for $26. It would have cost me $135, by your math.


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## jnaz (Apr 12, 2009)

kid creole said:


> I've gotta disagree here. I just bought 1800 pounds of dirt today for $26. It would have cost me $135, by your math.


Thats either dirt cheap or cheap dirt.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

lols


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## wondabread (Apr 23, 2009)

kid creole said:


> I've gotta disagree here. I just bought 1800 pounds of dirt today for $26. It would have cost me $135, by your math.


Well, you would be correct. Maybe I should have been more specific. I was talking bagged topsoil from a store - not a truck bed of fill .

I filled my tree stumps in with non-clean fill a few years back. My price was nearly identical to yours. 1 ton for $25.


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## kozlany (Feb 25, 2009)

Don't be cutting down mother's ornamental dogwoods. You'll be on her list for a long time.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

kozlany said:


> Don't be cutting down mother's ornamental dogwoods. You'll be on her list for a long time.


 I have a dogwood in my backyard that my dad periodically trims. im not planning on cutting any trees down:thumbsup:


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

nickcamp12345 said:


> Thats an awesome piece of wood. Ordering online isn't an option so I guess im going to actually have to try and find some. lol


You can always look for some wood at the pet store or lfs. Most stores carry mopani wood in different shape and sizes. It will color water so boil it couple of hours couple of times. Also some of it might float so you need to soak it. What I did is I boiled it for like 2 hours changed the water and let it sit in the bucket over night then boiled it again let sit over night and repeated the whole process for one more day. I know it might look like a lot of work but imo it's worth it


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## kozlany (Feb 25, 2009)

I honestly don't know how dogwood would work. The ones I mentioned are used for food bowls, tongue depressors, paint stirrers and are kind of bland and neutral wood. Safe.


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## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

funkyfish said:


> You can always look for some wood at the pet store or lfs. Most stores carry mopani wood in different shape and sizes. It will color water so boil it couple of hours couple of times. Also some of it might float so you need to soak it. What I did is I boiled it for like 2 hours changed the water and let it sit in the bucket over night then boiled it again let sit over night and repeated the whole process for one more day. I know it might look like a lot of work but imo it's worth it


 I wouldn't look for driftwood at a store. The wood is WAY overpriced. A little chunk costs $30! There are many online sources that have much better wood at reasonable prices.
Malaysian driftwood works well for me. Much less hassle than manzanita. You don't have to boil it and such, just soak it if you don't want the tannins in your tank.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

Axelrodi202 said:


> I wouldn't look for driftwood at a store. The wood is WAY overpriced. A little chunk costs $30! There are many online sources that have much better wood at reasonable prices.
> Malaysian driftwood works well for me. Much less hassle than manzanita. You don't have to boil it and such, just soak it if you don't want the tannins in your tank.


exactly why i'd rather just find it. online i need a credit card for shipping and what not and my parents won't let me. pretty much unless someone is generous to send me pieces completely free, im looking for wood outside.


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## Vladdy (May 6, 2008)

wondabread said:


> 40 or 50lbs bag of play sand. Cost is about $3. You need to rinse it for like an hour, when you're done, rinse it for another hour. Get it?


I got playsand in my aquarium. It does take a while to rinse all of the crap off it. I got a 40 pound bag for $2.39


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

Vladdy said:


> I got playsand in my aquarium


 nice tiger barb. i just bought a couple the other day. thanks for the pic. im assuming your tank looks great.


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## Vladdy (May 6, 2008)

Thanks. I only got one tiger barb. I'm thinking of getting a school of some other fish. Don't get mopani wood. Slimy stuff will get all over everything in your tank and plants. I had to take mine out. It nearly killed my plants, because the slime got on the plants and algae started to grow on them.


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## requiem (Oct 25, 2008)

*bake don't boil sand*

Just thought I'd share my experience with sand, from running a huge terrarium for a few years. I know for lizards, crabs and such, playsand or any high quality sand is preferable so it's low in sharp crystals that would damage sensitive critters.

You can place sand in a big baking bin - I guess a huge aluminium container could do. Stick it in the oven, 400F I believe for a half hour to an hour. The idea is to kill off all bacteria. Just keep in mind sand is an excellent heat captor. It takes a long time to reach a hot core temp but then stays there for a long time. The container will be piping hot for a good while before it can be handled; just turn the oven off. 

Been doing this for years myself; never had any problems. Of course I could just have been lucky, but the sand was standard playsand from the hardware store. I did notice a 'mini-cycle' every time I did this - about once a year.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

I boiled it and so far no problems. =]


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

wondabread said:


> As for rocks, people sometimes use the vinegar test. I don't think it works enough to trust the results.


Yeh, I read someone had problems from rock that did not fizz from vinegar test. Seems it does not always create enough acid.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

To test rocks, just use a test reagent, many of the nitrate and nitrite reagents are hydrochloric or acetic acid, check the label for the words or look for a little dissolving hand. No need to buy a whole bottle of muriatic when most of us have the test kits already.

9% acetic pickling vinegar works better than 'regular' vinegar, which is usually 5%.

Make sure to scrape the rock's surface first, too, different minerals can coat rocks over time and give a false result with the fizz test. If it fizzes once, scrub all the crevices well, soak it in vinegar for a day and test it again.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

jaidexl said:


> To test rocks, just use a test reagent, many of the nitrate and nitrite reagents are hydrochloric or acetic acid, check the label for the words or look for a little dissolving hand. No need to buy a whole bottle of muriatic when most of us have the test kits already.
> 
> 9% acetic pickling vinegar works better than 'regular' vinegar, which is usually 5%.
> 
> Make sure to scrape the rock's surface first, too, different minerals can coat rocks over time and give a false result with the fizz test. If it fizzes once, scrub all the crevices well, soak it in vinegar for a day and test it again.


thanks i know i have vinegar at my house so next time i see some cool rocks on the ground i'll scrub and test them.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

One more point, in the rare occasion that you soak a rock in vinegar for a day to remove any foreign alkaline deposits, and it turns out to be safe for the tank, soak it in a bucket of clean water for a few weeks before putting it in the tank, just to make sure all the vinegar it absorbs gets diluted back out. Or else it could affect your pH.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

jaidexl said:


> One more point, in the rare occasion that you soak a rock in vinegar for a day to remove any foreign alkaline deposits, and it turns out to be safe for the tank, soak it in a bucket of clean water for a few weeks before putting it in the tank, just to make sure all the vinegar it absorbs gets diluted back out. Or else it could affect your pH.


yeah. if im going to get rocks from my backyard, im going to be sure they are as clean as i could possibly get them. i'd hate to introduce a parasite or worms or something into the tank. i'll clean it first, test it with vinegar, clean again and i should be good.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

Hilde said:


> Yeh, I read someone had problems from rock that did not fizz from vinegar test. Seems it does not always create enough acid.


doesn't it mean the rock is good for the tank if it doesnt fizz?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

it either means that, or it may be an alkaline rock and the vinegar just isn't acidic enough to cause a reaction, Still, the rock might cause parameter fluctuations over time in the tank.


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## addo (Apr 20, 2007)

I use maple and oak twigs in my tanks with no problem, i just pick them right of the trees after they shed their leaves and nip the buds of. I live in Sweden though so your maple and oak might be different.


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

what about a tulip tree? I have a pretty big one in my backyard and the branches usually come off in crazy shapes.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

addo said:


> I use maple and oak twigs in my tanks with no problem, i just pick them right of the trees after they shed their leaves and nip the buds of.




 I read:
Sappy' (ie pine, cedar, beech, maple, sycamore) have high contents of Phenols and are toxic to most life forms in some respect. All of the aromatic woods contain toxic, volatile oils known as Phenols. The best woods for the aquariums are from fruit bearing trees (apple, pear, cherry, walnut, oak etc.)


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