The reason we use driftwood is it's origin and it's history. Years, decades, and possibly centuries of harsh conditions weather the wood down to the finished product--hopefully resulting in a piece free of fungi, bacteria, toxins, parasites, etc. You should reconsider putting that wood into your aquarium. (unless of course you gathered the proper type of wood, boiled it many times over, left it in the sun to dry and bake for at least 6 months, and sandblasted it, and then boiled it a few more times)
To each their own, I guess...
The reason I myself use wood is that it's a natural product I can gather myself(therefore...I manage the quality control), it looks great, the fish feel much more at home with it in the tank, and it adds beneficial tannins and nutrients to the water column.
I feel most people do not give either their fish or mother nature enough credit, and are stuck on "store bought" everything. Even my fish, with a few exceptions, are wild caught(all with proper permits before anyone get's their panties in a twist) and they are very happy in a tank with "free range" wood. Mother nature has had a long, long time to create fish that actually manage to exist with a few bugs in the water...and to date, I will put the health and "happiness" of my fish up against anyone, any place. I manage some rather difficult species(cold water darters for example), with minimal loss.
In this case, this is northern pin oak. I am very aware of the potential problems with using softwoods, although some such as cedar is perfectly ok with some precaution(use wood already in the river/lake).
This wood is from a storm toppled tree, about 3 years down and was NOT boiled. I prefer to treat my wood naturally, allowing it to soak for a few weeks to a month or so, until it sinks. I WANT the tannins that naturally leach from the wood to remain as long as possible as these actually benefit most fish(obviously a few hard water species being the exception.), and are easily manageable using either charcoal or purigen. Any non aquatic parasites obviously will perish or move on during the soaking process, and fungus seems to be common to almost all new wood, both wild and purchased(and...it's totally harmless). I have also used naturally sunk wood to great effect in my current set up, and..horror of horrors..it was SOFTWOOD(run....hide the children!). To date, that tank has been set up for about a year and a half, and for those who know fish...it's housing 13 rainbow darters, 6 umbra limi, and 4 black banded sunfish. The BB sunnies have been at home now for 9 months give or take, and are in perfect condition. That alone will tell anyone with extensive fish keeping knowledge, just how "dangerous" naturally collected wood is..
Obviously precautions are always needed, you don't just dump something into a tank full of discus without making sure it's fish safe...but IMO any wood from a source that is clean, and has a healthy population of fish...is by definition, fish safe. If you are housing very small fish that might fall victim to any toothy residents...then a half hour soak in a 2 percent bleach solution will solve that issue(followed of course with the proper regimen to dechlorinate the wood).
I don't mean to be harsh..but I am honestly surprised by the vehemence with the idea of self collection of wood.
The above described regimen of multiple boiling followed by a boil/dry cycle is of course fine if you are that worried about introducing a bit of real nature into your tank. But..I prefer to allow the fish to experience captivity with as much resemblance to their real home, as possible, and naturally collected wood(and plants, and rocks, and substrate for that matter) all go far toward doing this.
Indeed..if you want to witness activity that normally sterile captive enclosures do not allow..put some "raw" wood taken from a local lake or stream into a tank. The fish very quickly learn that it's got all the little wiggly goodies that they evolved to hunt and eat, and they recover actions that are far more interesting then the normal swiming in circles. They...hunt.
NONE of the above is meant as an attack on the use of store bought wood. For many of you, that is for any number of reasons the only option you have, and even if not, and you prefer to purchase...great, that's the American way!
However...trying to scare people away from the idea of using wood(or plants, or rocks, or substrate) from nature herself...is a terrible disservice to the hobby, IMO, in particular when it actually allows us to keep some tenuous link to the true nature of what we are trying to replicate.
Bottom line is you can do all of that to a stick you found in the woods, and no doubt by the end of the time spent, it will be very aquarium safe indeed.
OR...you can drop it into the tank after an hours observation if already sunk(to make sure no meanies are aboard), or a few weeks time to waterlog an already dried, dead piece of wood(I never use green...while the end results would be the same, it just takes much longer, and even I don't need the water to look like iced tea!).
Sorry for the massive derail.but I stand firm in my belief that my tanks, using a majority of "wild cauth" wood...are as nice looking and safe as any.
Oh..and the wood cost me less then $3 if you figure in the mileage I get in my jeep, and the distance it took to go harvest it and back.
That is a $117 savings, AND, I get to hand pick exactly the size and look I want.
I figure, that's a no brainier if you have the time and location to collect for yourself.
OK..end of Rant, I'm sure most of you still think that actual natural wood will kill all your fish, take the last beer from the fridge, and sleep with your dog...but, hey, just buy more beer!
