Using driftwood

is it ok to have driftwood in aquarium with axolotls. if so does it have to be any special type

yeah i wanted to know that too, and ifs its fine if you can get some straght off the beach, boil it up, soak it in clean water for a few days, dry it out completely for a week or so, will that be right? alsoa re there any experts on this forum, like vets or marine biologists?

Well im not a vet or a marine biologist but driftwood is safe, the safest kind would be pieces that are allready dry for a year or so, then boiled for 20 minutes or so.

give the ones from the beach an extra good clean to get rid of all the salt. if you can get driftwood from clean streams/lakes etc that would be good (pet shop wood is also good). make sure that whatever type you get its super clean before it touches that tank water. some woods you cant use though but generally bog wood, cork bark and plain ol driftwood is ok. some people also use bamboo

sinking it could take a while if not already sunk. just tie a large piece of rock to it and depending on how hard it is it will sink within a week to approx 2 months. it may leach tannins also which will turn your water a slight tea colour. this is not a problem but you may simply not like it. driftwood can also soften water a bit so be careful bout that one unless you have very hard water already.

to mathew not sure about vets/marine biologists but all out mods know insane amounts about amphibians (and often much more!).

(Message edited by sharn on January 21, 2006)

Sharn, the softening of the water comes from the tannic acid that's leached. It's usually not significant. I've had driftwood in a newt tank for about a year and haven't had a problem.

think i will stick with fake drift wood. dont have to worry about toxins and keeping water clear

My flatmate has picked a few pieces up at the beach today (haven't seen them yet.)

Plan is to boil them up for a while, then put them into a bucket of water and weigh them down. I'll change the water every few days till they sink.

Is this the best method?
thanks

It can literally take months to sink a piece of driftwood.

I have never boiled mine; I soaked some with rocks to keep them under the water for a while (must have been weeks, with infrequent changes), then after thoroughly drying them out to definitely kill bacteria and other nasties (another 3-4 weeks), set them into the tank with rocks as weights (but those tanks don't have axies). Took another two weeks to change out the tannins. Checked occasionally which doing gravel vaccuums under them to see if they still floated. I began working on the driftwood during my summer (back in may, june, july) and I think the last piece finally stopped floating in November or December.