Driftwood / Wood In General... What's Safe? Where Can You Get Some?

[Catfishnut]

Yes! Isn't that a big "WOW" ! I loved watching the movie they made of his experiences up there. Compiled from all of his own self videos. You know that not so long ago, that is what people did most all of the time. That was normal living. I know a lot of things about survival, but I am not sure I could be as refined as Mr. Proenneke. He seems to be a master of all trades! You would have to be VERY wise to survive like this. You certainly could not be lazy or a procrastinator. You would have to be working ahead at all times to plan and prepare for the future.

Gordy the Hippy

 

[Mmathis]

Hey, you guys -- get a room already!

 

[Catfishnut]

Hey, you guys -- get a room already!

Sorry Turtle Mum,

Didn't mean to hijack your thread here. Just filling in the blank spaces. We'll go back to the driftwood discussion now.

Gordy

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Mmathis - Since it doesn't appear to have been answered yet, you mentioned earlier a concern about tannins leaching into the water. This can actually be a good thing! True, tannins will turn your water a deep tea color, but it also makes the water very soft. Any time we get new wood for our aquariums, I just throw it out in the stream for a month to really scrub it before use.

And now this thread has got me thinking I need to start checking around for branches to use in my pond. I've been needing to create a shelter for the fish, especially for the Winter, and this is a fantastic idea. Get some larger logs down in the water, or even a tree stump with roots if I can find one, and the fish should feel a lot more comfortable.

 

[Catfishnut]

Shdwdrgn and Turtle Mommy,

If you want to use the driftwood in an aquarium, it will leach out tannic acid and discolor the water as well as lower the pH. If you wish to avoid this, boil the wood in water several times and discard the water. Then Soak the wood in a vat of water with lots of baking soda to draw out more of the tannic acid. The alkilinity of the baking soda water will speed up the leaching process. You may have to repeat these steps several times. The wood will darken and it will now also sink. Selecting a hardwood with an extremely light color is best for an aquarium. It may have more tannins than a softwood, but the wood will fare better after the treatment.

I doubt that these aspects regarding the pH and color will be significantly important in a large pond and you probably want the wood to float at least somewhat in the pond (like for your turtles to roost upon) unless the structure is akin to a root mass and it will stand up out of the water a bit.

Gordy