# Can I use terrarium/reptile wood in aquariums?



## Akeath (May 12, 2009)

I found some really lovely wood at Petco called Mac's riverwood, its sold for reptile use and terrariums. Does anyone know if that would be safe to use in aquariums? Would it rot?


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## lorax84 (Nov 3, 2010)

If you can find the company's website I would contact them and ask if it will be aquarium safe.


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## TwinDad (Mar 3, 2011)

It appears to be grape wood like a few other terrarium wood products. The only information I can find is it is not aquarium safe.

Petsmart and Petco do carry mopani wood in the terrarium section from zoo med that is aquarium safe.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

Grapewood is actually suppose to be aquarium safe, though it floats and breaksdown much faster then the aquarium stuff. I personally would not recommend it, reason is I bought some from petsmart years ago that completely crashed a tank in less then 24 hours. Seems they like to treat that wood with something, since no normal wood should cause the readings I saw from that. A simple test if you want to use it is to soak it in a bucket or bin of water all by itself. Then test the water for ammonia and nitrite after 48 hours. If readings are good it should be fine. It should be really obvious if its not from what I experienced.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

what about sand blasted manzanita... found some and holy moly at my lfs it is around 30 bucks a small piece but it's 8 bucks for just as amazing pieces... It was in the reptile section to be clear.


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## TwinDad (Mar 3, 2011)

Someone a few weeks ago posted that they picked up some manzanita from an online person that sells the wood for crafts and sells it to aquarium people as a side business. Nobody then said it was not suitable. Yout might want to forum search for manzanita and see what it brings up.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

But would it work though... what would you do


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## dusted (May 3, 2011)

I think it just depends on the wood that you buy, my wood is from a reptile company named zilla and it works well. My brother bought some wood from petco a few months ago and after 2 months he tossed it out. The wood stained the bucket so bad that you couldn't see the bottom after 2 days.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

I would just soak any wood you are unsure of. That be said I never do it to the aquarium sold stuff, or the wood I collect from the woods around my house. As far as a peice of wood producing tannins... thats really just personal aesthetics. Tannins never hurt anything except how unnaturally clear an aquarium is. Some people love that look and as far as the fish go tannin filled water is generally much better and natural for soft-water south American species. Its kinda the whole focus behind a black water aquarium. What I am warning about is actual toxins released by the wood. From what I experienced with what I am almost positive was a piece of treated wood now(it was for reptiles), it sent ammonia and nitrite thought the roof and took out half my stock in 24 hours...


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

yepp will deff. check it out.


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

manzanita is fine, but 8 bucks is steep. Mine was 25 for a box of 18 pieces... Even sandblasted, theres still bark on it, it needs to be stripped of all bark or itll mess up your tank when it rots.


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## AbbeysDad (Mar 28, 2011)

Setting aside the issue of tannins and staining, aren't most woods (driftwood or not) going to slowly decay and like debris affect the nitrogen cycle (admitting that wood decays much more slowly than other debris) ???

"Wouldn't you rather have a nice piece of plastic?" - lol


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

hard woods can last a long time, my bogwood has been in my tank for almost 5 years now and still fine. Softer woods will decay much faster.

Although nowadays, plasticn decor is great and some look very realistic, it will never be the same as real driftwood. Real wood offers textures, twists, and grain patterns that are unique to each piece and the variety cannot be replicated by plastic decor. For example, the manzanita i use in my tanks, i am confident that nobody else will ever be able to get the exact same pieces that I have and that my aquascape will be unique to me.

On the other hand, its a pain in the behind to find all those pieces of wood and make them work in a scape, arranging them takes forever and sometimes it just doesnt work out :-/ So i guess it all depends on whats important to the hobbyist.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

wow where did you get it?


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## AbbeysDad (Mar 28, 2011)

SinCrisis said:


> hard woods can last a long time, my bogwood has been in my tank for almost 5 years now and still fine. Softer woods will decay much faster.
> 
> Although nowadays, plasticn decor is great and some look very realistic, it will never be the same as real driftwood. Real wood offers textures, twists, and grain patterns that are unique to each piece and the variety cannot be replicated by plastic decor. For example, the manzanita i use in my tanks, i am confident that nobody else will ever be able to get the exact same pieces that I have and that my aquascape will be unique to me.
> 
> On the other hand, its a pain in the behind to find all those pieces of wood and make them work in a scape, arranging them takes forever and sometimes it just doesnt work out :-/ So i guess it all depends on whats important to the hobbyist.


I know, back in the day I had a nice piece of DW, looked almost like a dull brown velvet in the water. The trouble with the plastics is the color is too crisp, nature is more, well, plain.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

it's the plainness that makes it calming... not to much going on just mealow


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## dusted (May 3, 2011)

if you look at my aquarium picture you can see the difference between natural and plastic. The bad thing about plastic is the paint either chips or can fade. The fake one is leaving my tank soon.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

debris and mulm do not effect the nitrogen cycle unless you dump a ton into a tank with a low bioload then it might have some effect. I have never had any issues with bark... yeah it rots faster/falls off usually but doesn't mess up the tank as far as I have seen. Most of the wood I use these days comes from the woods and its not boiled, soaked, or debarked before it goes in my tank. I've used various species from soft to hardwoods and there is definitely a difference in breakdown time. I like to leave the bark on, gives it a very nice natural look. Sure some of it falls off eventually, much faster in tanks with snails and shrimp always attacking and eating it. Some pieces keep their bark for a long time though... a year or more.

Plastic wood looks unnatural and doesn't hold up well at all. You also can't get it for free...


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

how do you get it to sink... mine is being a turd and not sinking on it's own


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

takes time to water log, my manzanita took a few days before it sank. THe bark is mostly harmless but it browns your water faster and ends up being more work to keep the tank looking clear. i posted the site where i got my manzanita christple, you even commented on it saying you dont know what handcrafted wood meant.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

Oh... lol


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## AbbeysDad (Mar 28, 2011)

Mikaila31 said:


> debris and mulm do not effect the nitrogen cycle unless you dump a ton into a tank with a low bioload then it might have some effect....


The rot and decay of all organic matter is what creates 'mulm' and the process most certainly does create ammonia -> nitrites -> nitrates! What are you thinking girl?


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

it does but if you do weekly water changes your good


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## AbbeysDad (Mar 28, 2011)

Maybe I didn't read her post closely enough as unless a given bio-load suddenly increases, existing bacteria colonies should handle the load just fine. A neglected tank could become a nitrate factory that typical water changes would not dent, but likely few folks here would ever let that happen :smile:


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

yepp


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

AbbeysDad said:


> Maybe I didn't read her post closely enough as unless a given bio-load suddenly increases, existing bacteria colonies should handle the load just fine. A neglected tank could become a nitrate factory that typical water changes would not dent, but likely few folks here would ever let that happen :smile:


its what separates the planted tanks from non-planted tanks. Sure maybe if you put a LOT of soft barked wood in a non-planted tank you might see some spike in nitrate, if the tank has a decent bioload you shouldn't see anything else. It will make mulm which decomposes to release nutrients/wastes(depending how you want to look at it) and eventually will form a much smaller amount of humus-like material if not removed. In a non-planted tank I expect there to be regular gravel vacuuming so its not like one should expect considerable mulm build up in these tanks even with actively decomposing driftwood... So why would nitrates increase that much? In a planted tank it may not be a concern regardless of water changes. Nitrate uptake varies alot in these tanks. Mulm is usually not removed but it doesn't matter as much because planted tanks have much more of a real cycle, compared to a non-planted tank; which in truth we 'cycle' but its not a complete cycle biologically...

My filterless-soil tank hasn't had a water change in 2-3 weeks, it has an 1" of black dirt under the substrate along with a decent amount of driftwood and bioload. From my experiences with it I would guess at this point nitrates should be lower then my tap water if not close to zero.


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