# new into and wood question



## Crazy4Fids (Sep 9, 2014)

Greetings All!

I have been in and out of the hobby for nearly 40 years. I my last tank was a 150 gallon tank that sprang a leak after my sister in law accidently hit it with the back of a recliner  I have not had a tank for almost 5 years. I take that back, my daughter just moved home from school and brought her 30 gallon tank with her. I dabble with that on a regular basis 

I have got the itch to have another large tank. The 150 (tall) was too big and difficult to maintain. I practically had to snorkel in it to reach the bottom. I now have on order a nice 90 gallon (48x18x24). My daughter's three angelfish paired off and we have actually raised our first batch of angelfish fry!!!! I have never experienced this before. My many experiences with angelfish have been as follows: buy juvenilles, wait for them to pair off. Pair spawn, pair eat eggs. Repeat. So now that my daughter has agreed to give them to me, I want to set them up in a decent tank and encourage them to spawn more. They are awesome parents and successfully raised their offspring in a community tank full of small tetras, corys and loaches. I plan on replicating their community on a larger scale.

In the past, I have always purchased Malaysian driftwood. It is my favorite type of wood, however to get a large specimen piece is quite expensive!!! Over eight years ago when we purchased our house, there was a large piece of driftwood that has maintained a spot in my front yard landscape. It has been in dry and sunny location for at least eight years. I have always thought "that would look awesome in an aquarium", however I have been afraid that I kill all my fish.

I have read dozens of articles on the internet about prepping this piece of wood. There is a wide variety of opinions on how to prep it. In the past couple days, I have gotten up close and personal with this piece of wood. The piece is definitely some sort of redwood. It is incredibly hard as it took me nearly 20 minutes to saw through the end of it to make it 24" tall. I have scrubbed every nook and cranny with a variety of scrub brushes and a toothbrush. I leave it in the sun to dry, I go to work in the morning, then I examine it for lichens and algae/moss that I may have missed and scrub it again followed by a good blast from the garden hose. I think it is ready to soak in my freshly scrubbed, very large recycling garbage can. I have not seen a spec of sap on it, nor have I uncovered any major rotten areas.

Here are my questions for you:

Is redwood safe for the aquarium? 
Should I pour boiling water over it before I soak it (at it's largest part, the dimensions of the piece is 48x18x24 - I may have to trim it a little more to make it fit in my tank)?
My husband thinks it is too big to put in the tank. Would you put something this big in your tank? I guess I may not know the answer to this one until I actually get my tank set up.
I will post a pic of the piece as soon as I figure out how to do that.


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## Crazy4Fids (Sep 9, 2014)

Wow! Tough crowd!


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Welcome to C-F!!!

We are actually a pretty easy going crowd, it's possible no one knew how to answer your question.

Are you sure the piece is actually redwood? Redwood is usually not used in an aquarium because it is rather sappy in the center where it has not been exposed to the elements.

If it was me, I would soak it in a large enough container to see if it will actually sink and leave it submerged for a couple weeks. What you may see is that the wood leaches a lot of tannins and will turn the water tea colored. If it's really old, it may not leach any tannins which would be a good thing if you don't want tea colored water in your aquarium.

I would also check the pH of your tap water and then check the pH of your soaking water of the redwood piece. It's possible the redwood will naturally lower the pH of your aquarium and this may or may not be a problem for the species of fish you are planning on keeping.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful for using redwood in your tank. To post any pictures, follow the link in my signature for How to Post Pics. I would love to see some pics of the redwood.


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## Crazy4Fids (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks Dee!!
After studying my piece of wood for the past couple days, both my husband and I decided that it is just too big. So we strapped the split trunk part to a tree and the other split off part to the bumper of my truck  We now have two beautiful smaller pieces and a large gnarly piece. This piece of wood must be very old as there was no sap in the center of the wood. However, after cracking and pulling it apart and exposing the center of the wood, it is definitely red cedar wood. It smells just like a cedar chest. Now I am wondering about the smell. Help?
I take some more pictures after work. I have the two smaller pieces soaking right now.
Thanks again.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Great way of solving the problem of too large driftwood!! I would have used a chainsaw but that would have left a straight cut.

I did an Internet search for using red cedar in aquarium and there are quite a few results. Some are just opinions but others are actual experience using it without any problems. Most people that had success with red cedar noted that their pieces were very old, had little odor and had been submerged in large bodies of water for many decades.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

From my knowledge, it is usually recommended to stay away from cedar. The best woods for aquarium use tend to be Oaks and Beech, as they are hard and not very sappy.

I have collected lots of wood over the years for use in my aquariums and have never had a problem, however I have never used cedar. I would suggest that you do not use the piece you are currently contemplating and look elsewhere.

As for how to collect your own driftwood and what to look for.. check out this thread: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=287538

Good luck! :thumb:


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