# Driftwood on a budget



## Indiana Gardener (Jan 29, 2007)

Hi all,

I have been pricing drift wood that is supposed to be tank-safe and some of it is kind of pricey for what it is.

We heat the house with wood. So have plenty of dead weathered wood lying about that have been out in the weather for some years now.

I'm wondering what species can be considered tank-safe?

I know that species such as Pine, Spruce, ect are no good due to the resins. They make poor fire wood too. So we don't have any of those anyway.

What about Acer, Salix, Syringa, and Ulmus?

I found a nice (character-wise anyway) piece of Elm. The particular species is the one that carries the name lacking moral fiber due to the smell of it's green wood while being burned. LOL Does anyone know if this would be tank safe? It's been outside for a good many years.

Also, I don't have anything large enough to boil it in. Not even 1/2 at a time.

Thanks for any info.
Bye for now,


David


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## primal (Jan 30, 2007)

The general consensus is that hardwoods are good, softwoods are bad. Hardwoods resist rotting far more than softwoods do. It seems like there are a few types of hardwood that I have heard of that aren't aquarium friendly, but I can't remember their names.


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## Indiana Gardener (Jan 29, 2007)

This info should be made a sticky. Could help more People 

I found the info (after _lots_ of searching.
http://www.petfish.net/articles/How_To/driftwood_do.php
In short, Elm is ok.  
Bye for now,

Indiana Gardener - David


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## blacksmith37 (Oct 10, 2006)

I have used a lot of eastern red cedar. It should be weathered ,at least a year. It will grow in poor rocky limestone soils (like souther Indiana) and so, often makes interesting shaped stumps. Most of mine has come from lake and river shores in MO and AR. 
I hose it off and put it in the water. For weight , I drill axial/longitudinal holes and push in concrete rebar (you can usually find scrapes around home building sites).
The poop about scrubing the wood is mostly -poop. So is the stuff about titanium bolts -for practical purposes there is no such thing; due to that poor machinability and galling tendency of Ti


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