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Salicaceae in aquarium?

2053 Views 2 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  cross7fu
Last winter a snow storm knocked down part of my neighbour's Salicaceae and it landed on my backyard, by law it's my responsibility to clean it up. That makes me think maybe I could take advantage of it, cut down some good looking branches and put them into my aquarium. The question is is it gonna do anything harmful to my fish and turtles? I heard tree roots release toxin into the water, not sure if that's true, but I guess not all kinds of wood can be placed into aquariums. So is Salicaceae safe if I put it into water? What other kinds of trees are safe and looks good that I can put into aquariums?
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I grabbed this from another forum.

So the concensus on the info on safe wood is:
Sycamore...
Apple, bark on ok
Pear
Cherry
Fruit wood should be dried thoroughly because of the sugary sap

Heather wood, the twiggy bits great for nano tanks
Oak, ok with bark
Beech
Hawthorn
Birch must be totally dry (no sap) and free of bark because it contains pitch
eucalyptus check this as some leach oil for a long time
cork bark

Maybe's - probably avoid
Maple is contentious… some say yes, some say no, so probably avoid it
Hazel - mixed opinions on this one,

Definate no's are:
PINE (that's where turps comes from)
YEW, totally toxic.
lilac, seeds are poisonous,
ivy poisonous
Grape rots very quickly
Cedar
Cypress
Spruce
(Avoid anything with a cone on it!)
Sumac
Walnut (has been known to kill cattle so a few tetra's aint gonna last long)
Horse chestnut - conkers are poisonous when young and fresh

There are a huge amount of documented ways to prep it too. The safest is the old favourite… boil it for a few hours or more.
What about bigger pieces that are impossible to boil…Some bake them in the oven, some strip the bark and give it a pour over with boiling water.
Nothing definative really, so I would suggest, be safe where possible and boil it.

No mention of willow yet *crazy*

I'll keep looking, or if anyone has any experience with any of the ones mentioned please add to the list
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thanks bpizzuto for the info! I found something interesting when I'm doing the research.
Some people say willow has appear on many lists of trees that would kill the fish, but some had willow in their aquariums without any problems. There are even a few websites says willow helps cure green water.

Willow are poisonous to fish
http://forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/showthread.php?t=72631

Willow branches to cure greenwater
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showthread.php/3545-Willow-branches-to-cure-greenwater

Fighting green water. Simple cheap method.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/algae/7212-fighting-green-water-simple-cheap-method.html

Getting rid of green water using willow method
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/member-submitted-articles/getting-rid-green-water-using-willow-13200/

I'm not sure who's right, I just picked up some branches, and I guess I'll test it myself.
I'll boil them, remove the bark, put them in a new tank, start with one goldfish, I'll keep close look to it see if anything happens.


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