Washington hardwoods

[GunsABlazin]

I want to put some branches in my tanks,but i dont want to pay an arm and a leg for a chunk of wood.
I have these trees all around my property: Red Alder, Black Cottonwood, American Holly and Bigleaf Maple.
Once dried, debarked, and boiled to readiness...would the limbs of one of these trees be safe for my bettas tanks?

[GunsABlazin]

Bump

[Dragonlady]

It is actually quite easy to find free driftwood along the Oregon and Washington coast. Petrified wood looks beautiful in an aquarium if you can find any.

[GunsABlazin]

yea, but i live almost a day away from the coast...and i doubt my parents would drive me out to get drift wood lol.

[Littlebittyfish]

I use oak branches in my tanks...I find the branches fully dried out...then I cut off the bark and boil them for a day or so to release the tannins and water log them so they sink.I believe maple would work..I am not sure about the others...You will want to make sure it is a hardwood and that it is not a sappy tree...Also, make sure where you find it they don't spray pesticides.

[GunsABlazin]

It would be from my pasture, and we don't use pestasides on anything.

I know the Bigleaf isnt all that sappy. Wed get better syrup from our alders.

[Oldfishlady]

I collect and use all kinds of things from my yard/pasture in my tanks and have never had any problems....most hardwoods will work great in the tank and it sounds like you have a good handle on getting it tank ready.

I have found some neat looking pieces of wood that has naturally dried and de-barked....sometimes they don't last as long...maybe less than 5 years...but I think that is more due to all the BN plecos I have that eat/rasp on it and I have had some just decomp and become part of the soil too...which in my case is all good.....lol.....

I keep all kinds of hardwood I have collected outside in rainwater buckets to grow algae on them and water log.... so that I can swap them out with the ones in my BN pleco spawning tank...some I have never been able to get them to fully sink so I tape big rock to them with electrical tape

You do want to avoid vines since they will leach sap forever it seems and that can pollute the tank and I am not 100% sure on the safety of black walnut due to the juglone a toxic substance to fish...its usually found in the bark and nut husk...but I won't risk using the wood personally......especially in a closed system....

[GunsABlazin]

well, we dont have any walnut trees on our place. So i guess ill start readying some chunks of Bigleaf maple! :)

[LittleBettas]

I actually have a q, not sure if it would affect you GunsABlazin...
But how would White Maple branches work compared to Red Maple or such?

[GunsABlazin]

i think it depends on the sappy-ness. My Bigleaf isnt sappy...but the sugar maples are.