# UK wood in aquariums



## Iain Sutherland

So i went for a walk around my local fields and woods and saw a lot of very dead fallen trees with some great branches that i could use in my tank.
So would this be safe? are there particular types of wood that are better for this?  

I couldnt even begin to guess the type though as all the bark had been stripped from the one i really liked, if the wood is boiled is it safe to try?  I always believed that the only reason for not using some woods is because of the speed of decomposition??  Or is it more complicated than this??

Thanks


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## Derek Tweedie

Not to sure but i think most othem are ok apart from ever greens as they leach out sap and stuff. I have a lump of sycamore in my main tank,it has been in there for over a year and all the fish are fine. It does however colour the water a light yellow colour but carbon sorts that out.


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## Gfish

Most wood is ok, but yes avoid pine and other evergreens. I'm never sure when I pick up a piece without exact ID but its always worth a shot. You need to spend time preparing it which usually tells you whether any nasty stuff is going to leach out. I leave it in a spare tank or bin to soak for as long as it takes. If the wood is already rotten in places obviously that's no good but if it feels hard, seems dry/dead then get it soaked and enjoy 
I just did a 2ft with some Oak branches. I left the bark on this time, and I've not tried this before. Seems ok so far. I'll post a pic up if you like 
Cheers

Gavin


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## Iain Sutherland

excellent, i'm going for another walk , just this time im taking a saw!
GFish, a picture would be great if you dont mind


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## howanic

I think there are some that are poisonous so be careful. I read somewhere that Ivy is a big no no.


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## Graeme Edwards

As a rule, if its a moderately hard wood, then you are fine to use it. Oak is the best as its one of the hardest we have in the UK. Some look great but wouldnt be suitable. Gorse _Ulex europaeus_ looks brilliant, but wouldnt be suitable. 
Hawthorn, Apple, Cherry, Birch, Alder, Rowan, are some that are good to use. One of the best I ever use and still use, particularly in nano scapes is Heather wood. Brilliant as its gnarly,contorted and can be very fine or up to around 3cm thick at its thickest.  

NOTE: Always make sure the wood is a long time dead, never green or freshly cut. 
You should never take from protected sites.
And always be contentious to where you are taking it from.
Also, evergreens are not good for your aquarium.


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## Iain Sutherland

Thanks Graeme, very helpful, any ideas about walnut?  My parents trimmed a walnut tree in the spring and there are a few nice branches...


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## Gfish

Couldn't decide which was the best pic 
Apologies for the poor quality pics. iPhone needs a new lens I reckon 

Added a pic I took when first setting up. Bit better I hope?


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## Sentral

All out of focus, but the scape looks very nice! Maybe try and get a decent front-on shot?


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## Iain Sutherland

Ok, so went out searching but couldnt find anything i liked or could be sure would be ok in the tank.  Going with manzanita now...


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## mrjackdempsey

Alot of the wood is suitable for aquarium life except for some of the conifers such as pine or cedar whose resins are toxic to our fishy friends. In the tank in this thread there are different native trees all residing in the tank, most collected from a small stream including Ivy but you must make sure it is dead and has been soaked in water as you don't want it floating in your tank
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=16361
 Joe's tank uses native wood (Ireland but the UK would be very similar) in his tanks and is a fountain of knowledge about what is suitable and I'm sure he will add to this post as soon as he reads it and recommend different types of trees for 'harvesting'


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## dw1305

Hi all,
Now that the corn is cut, and we've had a big blow it is a really good time to go and look for fallen dead wood. Stag-headed oak trees in arable/Dairy fields are often a good source.

cheers Darrel


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## bogman

i have used and do use, alder, oak, ash, birch, bramble, willow, maple and endless exotic species, without any problems, i just make sure the wood is well dead and not starting to decompose, i avoid all evergreen species, everything from pine to cedar to rhododendron to laurel, ivy being one exception, of all wood this is one of my favourites, very twisty branches lots of unusual shapes and long lasting, as dave said i am using it in my planted tank at the moment, i will have a look at the video of it that dave put up  in the low tech section of the forum and i will add a post with the identity of all the species that are visible


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## tomkeay147

I use beech in mine  


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## ted31

So bogman. You've used ivy wood with no problems?


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## James O

Hey guys. Dont forget to check the date of threads you reply to.  This one is from Sept 2011


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## zozo

_Carpinus betulus (hornbeam) is also one of the hardest woods to find all over Europe. Centuries back used to manufacture cogwheels and axils etc. 
Seem to be very suitable for aquarium use. _


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## Lordfatty

Does anyone know if staghorn sumach can be used in an aquarium and if so, how could I prepare it cut straight from a tree


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## dw1305

Hi all,





Lordfatty said:


> Does anyone know if staghorn sumach can be used in an aquarium and if so, how could I prepare it cut straight from a tree


I don't know for sure, but <"_Rhus typhina">_ contains a lot of chemical compounds and I would be very wary of it, unless the wood was long dead..

cheers Darrel


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## AylaE

Hey everyone,

I’m new here, you guys are ever so useful! I’ve got some elder berry wood soaking currently, is it safe does anyone know?


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## alpine Oak

elder  is a very soft wood that will probably rot very quickly


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## alpine Oak

Being from Frome, you should try and older wood from an old orchard. Fruit woods are pretty safe. (check for mistletoe )


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## MossMan

Oak gets my vote and I strip the bark off using a knife and give it a good soak.


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## dw1305

Hi all, 





alpine Oak said:


> elder is a very soft wood that will probably rot very quickly


You need the right bit, the heart wood from the bottom of old Elder (_Sambucus nigra_) bushes, it isn't soft and sappy like the stems, it is very hard and dense (it naturally sinks).

cheers Darrel


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## Andrew Butler

Old thread that keeps ticking along but there are some more recent ones on here if you look on topic.


MossMan said:


> Oak gets my vote and I strip the bark off using a knife and give it a good soak.


The big problem with oak is it's forever leaching tannins - they use it for tannin leather for a reason.

Ash, Birch and Beech are all reasonable choices that are widely available in the UK as are most fruit trees but finding the interesting shapes is the hard part I found.
Sometimes it can just be easier to spend out a bit (extortionate amount) of money for something with interesting shape I've learnt.


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## zozo

What i like to look out for when strolling the woods is smaller fallen trees ripped from the ground. Then if reasonably fresh saw the trunk at the roots... I'm a bit lucky maybe with a small forest next door that contains a lot of young Prunus sp. that regularly fall over each time a storm passes over.






This piece went to a friends aquarium and left the bark on. Looks great and isn't e problem. Still waiting for recent and decent pictures.


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## Tucker90

I used heather in my 15L shrimp tank, it had been fired, left out for months, then I stripped as much bark off as possible and kiln dried it! 

Looked brilliant for 6 months, the issue is it starts to break down, or at least it did in my tank! Causing issues with water quality and makes a mess!

So I have now removed it. I would use it again for small detail as it can be easily replaced but for a long term hard scape I’d give it a miss! 


when the heather was in! 







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## Fisher2007

Would Hazel be a good choice?  Just thinking that the branches are interesting, twisted shapes


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## mort

Fisher2007 said:


> Would Hazel be a good choice?  Just thinking that the branches are interesting, twisted shapes



I've used hazel a few times cut from my garden trees. It's not the twisted variety but I don't see why it would make a difference. The only thing that took time was the preparation. If you have time then I'd cut it and stick it in water over the winter as if you leave the thin bark on it promotes a lot of fungus and by soaking it you make things easier. You can strip the bark but it's time consuming and a bit of a pain so I tend to leave it to mature in water and then it lasts a long time once cleaned and added to the tank.


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## dw1305

Hi all,





Fisher2007 said:


> Just thinking that the branches are interesting, twisted shapes


We have a thread. <"_Corylus avellana_ 'Contorta'">.

cheers Darrel


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