# aquarium safe twiggy wood?



## daisycutter (Jan 4, 2007)

is there any natral wood that can be used for fish use im looking for something very twiggy to use in a planted setup (no more than 5mm thick) all of the bog/Mopani wood is usally big thick chunks i want to have a few bits of something of a twiggy nature running diag accros the tank with java moss on them any ideas?


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

I was thinking about doing a similar sort of thing in my new tank but had the same problems with all the standard driftwood being too thick. 

If I had to guess, I'd guess that using dead branches up off the ground still attached to a hardwood tree of some kind would be your best bet. I wouldn't want to mess with something already submerged as it could likely contain some nasty pollutants. I don't want soft wood, because those seem like they'd break down easier and the sap might be a bad idea. Any sticks on the ground would likely be already rotting, so those seem like a bad idea, too.

I've never done this so these are entirely just hunches. Any experts have any advice here?


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## daisycutter (Jan 4, 2007)

i came across a picture of a planted tank that had lots of twigs in it looked ace but there was no mention of WHAT these twigs were from but i know its possible i have lots of twigs from a silver birch that are dead yet not rotten(these trees shed unwanted twigs) also branches from apple and hazel i may put some in a spare tank for a couple of weeks and see what they do a pehaps add a few trumpet snails to determine if they are leaching anything toxic


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Oh one more thing I forgot to mention, I read somewhere else on here that wood from fruit trees is a bad idea because they get covered in this nastly slime sort of stuff underwater.


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## daisycutter (Jan 4, 2007)

fruit tress have very sugery sap which stays in the bark after death didnt think about that  ok thats off the list


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## daisycutter (Jan 4, 2007)

ive now set up a trial tank with birch twigs i boiled them(there flexible enogh to curl round a in a large pot) and added them to a 10gallon tank with a little sand some trumpet snails and some ricca(supposed to be sensitive to poor water

ill leave it for 2 weeks and see what happens ill post updates if anyones remotely interested


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Definitely keep me posted! I still want to do something similar in my 29g but haven't gone wood-collecting yet.


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## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

I saw someone who made a little "tree" with twigs from outside. It rotted eventually, but it looked nice for a while. You'll have to take them out at some point, but it should last a while.

Just watch out for trees in areas that have pollution or have been treated by pesticides. Even boiling won't get it out.


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## daisycutter (Jan 4, 2007)

they seem to last well over a year in the bottom of my parents fish pond were they tend to end up over winter a year is a pleanty of time its just a matter of fiding out there effects and to give a some idea of what trees can be used for this there are a large number of trees that can be lethal to not just fish but people too


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