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Harvesting your own wood

Andrew Butler

Andrew Butler

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Joined
1 Feb 2016
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Banbury, Oxfordshire
I know this type of question has been asked and answered before; it's with regard to using wood you have gathered yourself in aquariums.

If you look at the photos below not only does some of the wood look quite freshly cut and still a bit green but also has its bark still on. I'm quite sure there's more than one different species of tree in there and I could hazard a guess as to what they are.

Questions for people who have gathered their own wood and used it.................
Has anyone used wood which is quite freshly cut?
Has anyone used wood with bark still on?

If you have I'm interested to hear from your experience and how it worked out; what you used etc.

Andrew

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A large amount of freshly cut wood will have risks because of all the leachable stuff comming out of it ( sugars, sap etc. etc) also there will be rot. Collected dry wood will be much much safer ( leachables gone, less risk of rot). I don't see fish in the above pic's, could be it's not healthy enough.
Also a lot of scaped tank exist for only a short time, maybe they break it down before the rot takes over.
 
Edvet said:
A large amount of freshly cut wood will have risks because of all the leachable stuff comming out of it ( sugars, sap etc. etc) also there will be rot. Collected dry wood will be much much safer ( leachables gone, less risk of rot). I don't see fish in the above pic's, could be it's not healthy enough.
Also a lot of scaped tank exist for only a short time, maybe they break it down before the rot takes over.
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Hi Ed,
Thanks for the reply; I'm aware of the 'need' to dry wood out before using it in aquariums but thanks.
There is a picture of this aquarium with fish in and I believe it's been running for more than 12 months.

Tim Harrison said:
This subject comes up form time to time. I think that dried out hardwood like Oak is fine for use. Like Ed mentions above it's not necessarily advisable to use freshly cut wood or wood with bark still attached. Check this out for starters https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/hornbeam-a-suitable-decor-material.29015/
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Hi Tim,
I've done some reading before and think I know which woods are and aren't okay to use.
I also thought I understood the importance of removing the bark and drying it out but I came across the 'scape above and as you can see some of it looks a bit green still, not to mention the bark is still on.
It's from quite a big name too so I thought someone else must have tried it and want to hear from experience; whether that's good or bad.
 
Well the bottom line in this case is the art, not the health of the critters.
From an aquascapers perspective the piece is too good not to use regardless.
However, for the rest of us mere mortals it's best to err on the side of caution ;)
 
When it comes to bark I've never stripped it off (apart from when i used hazel) and never had a problem. The bark actually benefits shrimp and plecs but if you aren't housing them I would strip it off so it doesn't decay and litter the tank.
I've used fresh cut wood but only after soaking it in a water butt for a few weeks and then only a small amount. With other woods I look for dried oak as a favourite but beech (which the thicker branches look like in the first pic, to me at least) are good as are fruit woods which I just chuck in a corner of the garden after pruning and leave to mature.

I believe the chances of any problems are minimised by most of us doing large scale frequent water changes shortly after the scape is created and weekly after that. There might be more problems if we simply left the tank for longer.
 
Ive cut branches off my apple tree, let them dry over a couple of months and removed the bark. Added them to the tank and had no issues at all.
 
I've a bucket with the ends of raspberry canes in that I've a very happy culture of daphnia and other bugs in. I would imagine the old wood canes would be safe in a tank too - it is very black water atm, but I'm not sure how much of that is I dumped fresh green leaves in too.
 
Andrew, I have used Beech Cuttings in the past, the bark is virtually none existent, it is more like a skin than bark. I've also left the leaves on.

But I would not use freshly cut pieces, get the pieces you want mid Autumn or erly Winter when the leaves have gone brown. Hang them in your shed or garage, or loft until the Spring, then give them a rinse and put them straight in leaves and all.
 
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Interesting comments about what woods you can use, Has anyone gone for anything with a plan on it growing. Just thinking about a bonsai tree sat on elephant stone with the roots and trunk running underwater. I know that willow is very easy to persuade to start growing. I read in a few places that daphnia are very sensitive to chemicals so once there happy I imagine you could introduce some hardy fish.
 
I,ve never tried it but your right, Willow is very easy to get growing. Take a living piece of willow, place in water - it will root! Alder also loves water.

From fishing experience, fish like Chub, Perch and Pike love to live in the roots of these trees.




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This is interesting reading guys as I've seen countless scapes from the the Asian continents and have always thought I'd love to get my hands on that piece of wood. I will be more observant now at fallen trees and twigs on my journeys henceforth :)
 
Barbara Turner said:
Interesting comments about what woods you can use, Has anyone gone for anything with a plan on it growing. Just thinking about a bonsai tree sat on elephant stone with the roots and trunk running underwater. I know that willow is very easy to persuade to start growing.
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Using life Willow branches in the aqaurium is actualy a very old school tradition.. Already red about it in books from the 1970's. :) The Salix tree especialy a vase with Pussy Willow branches has a rather long history in household tradition over the world. Easter is one of them in the katholic society. Hence some aqaurium hobbyist thought if it lives in a vase on the cabinet it must live in my aqaurium.. :)

Hard to find in the trade at times but Magrove can be used.. As well as some Ficus spieces are suitable in aqaurium setups.. There are scapes created with small specimen of this. If i remember correctly Sascha Hoyer a relative new kid on the block in the German professional aqauscaping scene recently made a few stunning scapes with Ficus.

Not 100% sure but the Pachira aqautica at least a small one probably does as well. It's very common available in the garden centre.. Likes to grow in flooded ereas in it natural habitat.
 
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