# Anyone have any experience with using pine aspen or cedar driftwood in their aquarium



## Teepug (Feb 21, 2015)

Found a very cool submerged piece of driftwood a while back its old very old but the centre of it is still white And smells like condensed pine wood, I've read many things that say pine is okay, and many that say it isn't, please let me know if you have tried pine or any other sappy wood with no Ill effects thanks! Ps the woods going into a tank with some snakeheads ( not sure if these woods are bad for snakehead as well ? )


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## Chronick (Apr 27, 2010)

Personally I would advise against pines/resin woods because snakeheads have really acute smell. I wouldn't want to risk the sap/resin leeching into the water and lowering the water quality. I think the risk vs reward isn't really worth it, but I haven't seen the piece so i don't know how old/dry/soaked the piece is. Also, what type of snakeheads do you plan on keeping?


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Cedar release strong natural chemicals that protect the tree from pests. I would stay away from cedar as well.


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## -DC- (Apr 21, 2010)

I use both soft woods and hardwoods in my channa tanks most taken from beaches and are bleached clean but I do have the occasional chunk often roots that still has that softwood scent to it. I prefer hardwoods as most last longer but really depends I the tree.

If it still has a strong smell it's likly that it still has sap/resins , it should not be any problem as the phenols released from softwoods won't harm fish however if it still has this organic matter it will slowly leach out which noticeable by the white slimed fungus that will grow from cracks/cut ends as the last of the sap leaches out . This is also harmless but messy and continues until
The source rubs dry which can take a long time ! On the brighter side if it's still got that smell it's likly still loaded with tannins as well which will turn you water tea colored but channa love it!


Hope that helps!


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