# Driftwood Identification and safety?



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Hey everyone, I found these awesome looking piecee of driftwood in a branching creek off the Humber river. I split it into three parts and now it looks epic. The unfortunate thing is, I can't identify what kind of wood it is (I hope it isn't cedar which can be bad for aquariums). Aside from that, the core is pink/purple/reddish. I hear that is an indication of cedar? Also, I heard that pollutants can be bad and I know that the Humber river isn't the cleanest of rivers haha. I boiled it for 2 hours, one hour on each side and then soaked it for three days now. What kind of wood is it and can I use it?




























Cheers


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

Hmm. They look like roots (harder to identify than aerial branches), but without looking closely at them (incl. probably microscopic examination!) it's hard to say what they're from. There are very few poisonous trees around here (major ones = sumac (shrub) and walnut, and softwoods, like cedar, aren't great because of the sap -- but, as you said, yhe pinkish insides could indicate cedar. I myself would not use suspected cedar. 

Well, I know this isn't much help, but it sounds like you're doing everything right.

You could always trade/sell this driftwood to someone setting up a terrarium (for reptiles or insects, or plant-only -- not for amphibians). It's still perfectly suitable for those purposes.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

also, if you remember what trees are in the area, that might help as well. Assuming it wasnt brought there.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Ok, I think Im going to pass on this and continue searching. I'm going to find wood that is not submerged. Sure its not waterlogged but it was not in teh suspiciously polluted water haha

Cheers


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

This is a good read

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31382&hilit=wood


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

those are some nice peices


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Very pretty wood.. but to me it looks like cedar, so I would not use for fish. Better safe than sorry. Reptiles would likely be quite happy with it, so maybe you could sell it on Kijiji ?

If you are scavenging for wood, try for hardwoods, maple or oak are good. Pretty much any hardwood is ok. Even if it's green, you can leave it outside for a year to season and dry out the sap, then soak it to leach the tannins, or boil it. I use a bit of bleach when I soak wood, which does lighten the outer layer colour a bit, though it is not very noticeable when it's in a tank. I rinse it with a bit of dechlorinator, to ensure any bleach is gone.. it also helps take out the tannins faster.

I spent several weekends over the years helping the family load firewood into our crawlspace, when I was a kid. My Dad salvaged, chopped and seasoned any logs he could, if someone cut a tree or he found one, then stored it all in the crawlspace for our fireplace. One big lot of it was cedar. It smells nice when burned, though it burns so much faster than hardwoods do it does not last so long, but we liked it. Those pieces of yours look a lot like what I remember of the cedar we burned, as well as a lot of cedar deadwood I've seen on camping trips and hikes through back country.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

For what it's worth, many pieces of cedar are for sale in stores. If it is weathered enough it doesn't seem to be an issue. The pieces in the picture look far enough gone, whatever they are to be safe.


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Cedar, pines and general firs all contain high amounts of acidity in their system. This is why barely anything can grown in the rings surrounding these trees. In the aquarium you'll have the same issues.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

yeah, I decided i would buy store bought ones just to be safe. Sure, the prices are INSANITY, but it is not worth risking my shrimp


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Why not take them into a Horticultural Technician? If anybody could ID that would, they'd be your best bet. 

Or... Set the wood up in a different tank, buy some ghost shrimp ($2 for a 10 at BA's) and see what happens.


Edit---> After looking at some pictures of Cedar Roots on Google, I've come to the conclusion that chances are it's the roots from a cedar tree. It's really hard to tell without any sort of bark on the wood. However, I found some pictures that look very similar.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

I use cedar in my tank with wood eaters and they're fine as long as it's sap free and weathered like Bill said

In the link I posted you'll see how people use these as well


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Which BAs has ghost shrimp at 10 for $2. ?.. Never seen them that cheap at the one near here, in Mississauga. They're double that price there.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Fishfur said:


> Which BAs has ghost shrimp at 10 for $2. ?.. Never seen them that cheap at the one near here, in Mississauga. They're double that price there.


Sorry it was a typo. It was 4$ not 2 at least it should be. I've been to 3 BA and ended up with 10 for 4 each time


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Ah, well, that makes sense then. Too bad, would have been nice to get Ghosts at that price. $4. for 10 is what most of the BAs seem to charge for them. Still not a bad deal, but every penny helps, right ?


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## jamie (Feb 20, 2013)

There's a pic of a nerite zebra enjoying some beaver chewed wood collected from the beach near the mouth of the Rouge. If you look carefully you might be able to see a little cherry shrimp on the right of the gnarled bit, halfway up. That was collected at the lake near the mouth of Highland Creek. All the wood and stones in my tank have been scrounged from the wild. I do have the benefit of hydro included in my rent, so these pieces were boiled for about 8hrs over a few days. My apt stunk and I ruined a huge 20L soup pot, but you can look at it as gaining a new wood boiling pot. I think removing the wood from the boiling water helps, because when I returned it to the pot a lot of bubbles came out, so I think it gets in and out to release more tannins and such.

I screw SS screws into the side and uses SS lashing wire to attach a big rock to weight it down, one piece is wired to a section of plexiglass drilled with holes and airline under it for a nice burping-thru-the-gravel-bubble feature.

I did have an unknown fungus or bacteria recently kill of some of my fish, but I attribute that to the non-quarantined corys I added a few days before the first death. 2 of the smaller pieces I have were in another tank for up to a year with no observed ill effects. There was some white fuzz on one piece for a while, but I've seen that on store bought wood as well. I might not be as quick to use local wood if I had a pleco that ate it, but there are rivers within the GTA (Duffins Creek for one)that have trout in them, and they need pretty clean water. Speaking of which, spring run is right around the corner, next big rain maybe!!

I'd like to get a chainsaw down by Rouge Beach, there's some huge ancient stump/trunks that would make an amazing corner if sliced right. Amazon floodwater like

Personally I think some of the prices on driftwood are ridiculous, but this hobby is a passion and reason is subjective, so if it feels good do it.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

jamie said:


> There's a pic of a nerite zebra enjoying some beaver chewed wood collected from the beach near the mouth of the Rouge. If you look carefully you might be able to see a little cherry shrimp on the right of the gnarled bit, halfway up. That was collected at the lake near the mouth of Highland Creek. All the wood and stones in my tank have been scrounged from the wild. I do have the benefit of hydro included in my rent, so these pieces were boiled for about 8hrs over a few days. My apt stunk and I ruined a huge 20L soup pot, but you can look at it as gaining a new wood boiling pot. I think removing the wood from the boiling water helps, because when I returned it to the pot a lot of bubbles came out, so I think it gets in and out to release more tannins and such.
> 
> I screw SS screws into the side and uses SS lashing wire to attach a big rock to weight it down, one piece is wired to a section of plexiglass drilled with holes and airline under it for a nice burping-thru-the-gravel-bubble feature.
> 
> ...


Those are some nice pieces mate. I find that my area may be too polluted so I'm not risking it. Perhaps when i go up north or somewhere less polluted ill go scavenging there haha


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

They are nice pieces.. I wish I could scrounge some like that. 

But the only body of water close to me is the creek through the park and it's a mess. I don't know how clean the water is, but it's loaded with junk that stupid bipeds throw in it for no good reason, and I've never seen fish in it. Ducks, geese, but not fish.


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