# Cedar Wood- Advice needed



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Found a fantastic piece of wood last summer in my woods. It's an old stump. Very dry. Very hard. I added it to my outdoor box turtle enclosure, where it was half submerged.

I decided to use it for an aquarium. It's pretty massive and would need some trimming to fit in a 180 I'm planning for American cichlids. I just started cutting it and noticed the dust was red. Once cut, it's clear that its cedar do to the coloration and faint odor.

I've already checked some old posts here, and on Google. Some say it's great for a tank, some say no way. I'd like to hear from anyone here with experience on this and folks I trust. It's a killer piece. No rot or soft areas. It's incredibly hard, and a pain to cut.

Thanks


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Iggy, was this wood from an actual cedar tree or was it maybe Arborvitae or a Juniper? Not sure if it makes a difference in the long run though. I've also seen arguments on both sides of the discussion.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Possibly Juniper, but not arborvitae. The trunk was really big. I sent a pic to my Dad. He's a big tree guy, and said it definitely looked cedar. So I was just rolling with the old man's wisdom concerning species.

Thanks Deeda


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Iggy let me start by saying I have never personally had it in my tanks myself. With that said I have known a couple guys in the clubs that have used it in tanks and they have said in the past as long as it is well aged (dry and not soft in any way) and well soaked that it is safe to use. So if it is older and hard like you said and you already had it half soaked for a summer, I'd tend to lean towards it being safe.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Thank you Steve

Some of it has been soaked. Upper half, not at all. I've used wood in aquariums before. Honestly though, I had no idea what species it was, because I never had to cut it.

This piece essentially makes or breaks the tank. Tough decision...


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I've decided to move this piece back outside. Once I'm out of freezing temps, I'll submerge it entirely in the box turtle pond. Let it soak for 8-9 months.

Thanks for your advice on this.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Probably the wise thing to do. Hard to not use it now though isn't it?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Yes! Tough to abandon the idea :?

The piece on the right side. It has a limb that extend a fair ways, but it's underwater. I ended up moving this deeper in later in the year. This was when I was prepping their pond.
20170902_183041 by Adam James K, on Flickr

And some with the turtles... just because!
20171021_140638 by Adam James K, on Flickr

20170925_071926 by Adam James K, on Flickr

20170926_165820 by Adam James K, on Flickr


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Yeah thats a nice looking piece of wood. I like the turtle habitat as well that's gotta be really enjoyable to just sit back and watch them do their thing.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I'm glad you agree.

This group is a blast. Lots of different personalities. They're all hibernating in a fridge since November. Starting to miss the little buggers...


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