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Can I ask which woods people consider to be safe for tank use I appreciate the boyancy issues but I am more concerned with the alakloid and toxicity side of their use.
Thanks in advance

I think most native deciduous trees/shrubs would be fine.

This includes our most common species such as oak, beech, ash, hawthorn, blackthorn etc. Roots of the two latter may look really good.

I would also use dead (but not rotting wood), as to avoid any sap issues.

I would also avoid anything coniferous.

ash is not recommended. infact avoid it, it is poisonous to fish. beech is your best bet

Is it really?

I didn't know that.

Thanks for pointing that out.

no probs

racoll wrote:Is it really?

I didn't know that.

Thanks for pointing that out.

I didn't either, but it was mentioned in the latest PFK on feeding Panaque's.

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Mats

Has anybody used wood as a tank substrate? And how acidic would the water become? I put some beech chippings into an empty tank and the PH is either at 6.5 (from around 8 with my tap water) or off the chart after just 24 hours... nitrates have also vanished (i have put an entire pot of fish food in this tank...java moss got rid of most of it, but the little amount left has vanished)...quite weird when my tap water's nitrate reads 30+. Does wood absorb nitrates? It would be interesting to know if I could use this tank to make my tap water acidic and then use it to top up my 33 gallon and hopefully that'll promote by cichlids to breed!

The fact that you get acid and nitrates disappear both indicate that you may have anaerobic activity in the tank. It's fine if this is the ONLY things that happen, but I'd worry about Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) being produced - smells of rotten eggs and is poisonous to fish...

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Mats

Yeah, looks poisoness...especially the way the water bubbles and fizzes.