Jacaranda and Eucalyptus

[KevinC]

Are there any ill effects using either of these as driftwood? They are both hardwoods, well hard enough. Know that well,l since I split them for firewood.

I have an almost unlimited supply of both and I was thinking about possibly carving some small caves into choice pieces, like the small egg caves that apisto's are so fond of, but creating those caves inside actual driftwood. It isn't a problem for me to toss some in a barrel and soak them out back.

 

[dw1305]

Jacaranda, palms and bamboo

Hi all,
I love Jacaranda, I've got a potted one in the glasshouse, it flowers but it's a pretty poor approximation of the real thing. I'm not sure about the wood, purely because the sap is anti-microbial. Having said that I would be 95% confident that long dead Jacaranda would be all right.

Eucalyptus I'd be more wary, it might depend on species, I'm sure very hard "Iron wood" would be all right. I assume that the heart-wood is much less resinous than younger wood? I'd be pretty wary of any wood that was naturally termite resistant. I would try a small amount of naturally dead heart wood soaked, and see if any oil comes out of the wood.

L numbers
I recently found a paper on the diet of Panaque nigrolineatus in the wild, (Nonogaki, H., Nelson, J., & Patterson, W. (2007) “Dietary histories of herbivorous loricariid catfishes: evidence from δC13 values of otoliths†Environmental Biology of Fishes 78:1, pp. 13-21.) which found that they preferentially fed on the wood of a palm, Scheelea phalerata, so palm wood might be good if you can get any? there was also a thread on "Plecofanatics" where a keeper of Panaque L204 (Flash Plec), found that they kept eating their bamboo breeding caves. He's going to plant a Bambusa sp. Bamboo especially to feed them with.
cheers Darrel (in Bath)

 

[ed seeley]

I'd be wary of both. I don't know about Jacarandas but I have a few Eucalypts and the resin would make me not use them in a tank. Remember that there's no huge volume of water to dilute any problems from the wood unless you're on a constant water change system!

 

[james595]

You may try a coconut cave, they are inexpensive to make. If you have a saw, a drill and a large bit you can make one.

 

[Lisachromis]

The reason you cut that wood for firewood is because it burns well. The reason it burns well is it's full of oils, just like the leaves. I would not use it in any aquarium because of the worry of leaching....

 

[grumpy55]

I have used Eucalyptus root in all four of my tanks, with no problems.
I boiled the pieces three separate times before puting it in my tanks.
One of my ten gallon tanks has a large piece that barely fit in the tank.
That tank has a female Cruzi and five of her young.
She killed the male, but the six are doing well, about six months, now.

The Eucalyptus can leach tannins, but after boiling, very little.

 

[jase101]

i use eucalyptus branches and sticks in all my tanks - more as anchors for moss, height in the scape etc than as caves - i collect all branches dead but still on the tree and have never had a problem in 30 years. i have no experience with jacaranda (except using the prodigious flowers as mulch for the fernery - WOW!)

 

[KevinC]

My brother in law works for the city where I live and I can get some of the trees that the city clears and use for firewood. I chain saw them when I get them and let the pieces sit a year or two before splitting and using for firewood. Anyways I was just sawing up the newest arrivals and I thought, "Hey if I cut carefully there are some really interesting sections". Started thinking about it and I could cut certain sections down to what I think would be perfect aquarium center pieces. Taking it one step further I thought, "Why couldn't I router, carve, drill, etc. natural cave structures into the wood?" With a little trial and error I think I could manufacture pieces that appear natural but are totally planned. I certainly have enough wood to practice on and it isn't really a big deal for me, in terms of space, to set out a few barrels and soak wood in it for year or more. And then boil it after it has soaked and see what the result is.

Another thing I was thinking on.... Imagine a slice of trunk cut 6 inches high and then cutting that in half (like slicing away half a pie). The flat part of half circle towards back of tank, rounded towards front. Then using hole saw to make a few caves spaced around the front, coming up from the bottom. Drilling a few small entrances from the front to these open spaces and instant small caves. Could even router the top down 2 inches or so (leaving a lip of course), fill with sand and use the whole top of structure as raised planter. Result could be driftwood center piece complete with caves, topped with planter heavily planted with swords or whatever.

Anyways just something that occurred to me while I was taking care of the years wood.

As for using jacaranda, the trees generally have a much more gnarled look to them the euc in terms of grain and form. Would have to sand jacaranda though, under the bark they have some wicked small thorn type barbs and I would need to remove the bark since it will rot off in not time anyways.

 

[Hassles]

Eucalypt

Looks like the questions regarding Eucalypt have been answered and I must confer - I use Eucalypt in many tanks without incident.

These peices of timber are always well dried to partially rotted (for the bigger peices) when collected and regardless of their state will always leech tannis into the water. All of my Eucalypt have been extensively soaked (up to 12 months) before placement into an aquarium. The largest piece, the remnants of a hollow tree trunk the size of my leg, became a haven for a colony of Orange Spot bristlenose which I cite as the catalyst for what become their prolific breeding behaviour. The bristlenose have since been replaced with L066 and L134s - both doing well

boiling works to speed up the process of removing tannis but I haven't got myself a steel 200 litre drum into which to boil the wood. Instead I use a plastic 200 litre drum into which I have installed an airstone and patiently wait. Store purchased (imported) driftwood is also placed into this drum.The airstone keeps the water circulating which aids the process and prevents stagnation of the water. The surface agitation also impedes mosquito breeding - although I do harvest any larvae found.

Any bark should be removed - for pieces very dried, a few weeks soaking should enable the dried bark to be removed. The bark will impart very dark colouration to the water.

So yeah, definitely consider Eucalypt if you encounter an interesting piece, just prepare it appropriately and you won't be dissapointed.

Cheers

 

[Hassles]

Go For It

Another thing I was thinking on.... Imagine a slice of trunk cut 6 inches high and then cutting that in half (like slicing away half a pie). The flat part of half circle towards back of tank, rounded towards front. Then using hole saw to make a few caves spaced around the front, coming up from the bottom. Drilling a few small entrances from the front to these open spaces and instant small caves. Could even router the top down 2 inches or so (leaving a lip of course), fill with sand and use the whole top of structure as raised planter. Result could be driftwood center piece complete with caves, topped with planter heavily planted with swords or whatever.

hmm, just do it and be sure to take (numeorus) before, after and in progress photographs. I would be inclined to cut out a wedge (25%) and shove this into the corner of the aquarium rather than along the rear wall.

I am considering taking a few old railway sleepers down to a mill and have an inch sliced off the surface to use these (slices) as the aquarium background. I'm sure I could easily get plants / moss to adhere to this in places.

Cheers

 

[KevinC]

Will get a picture up tonight. I went ahead and did one just to see how it would turn out, but there are no before pictures of my trial version. I still need to boil and soak it, just busy so haven't gone ahead with others yet.

I do like how it turned out so I am sure I will continue making them. I like your idea about corner pieces, maybe that is what I will do this weekend if I get some free time.

Anyways will post up a few later on.

 

[Sinbad]

Eucalyptus is a huge genus of flora and to assume that all species will be suitable for use in the aquarium "because so and so has used it and it was ok" could end in tragedy. What species?, How old was it?, had it ever been submerged?, was it decayed or weathered?
Just because you may be able to use one species without ill affect does not mean this will be the case with numerous other species within the eucalypt genus. One aquarium and fish retailer here in Western Australia used 2 different species of Eucalypt wood in 2 large display tanks in his shop. Both varieties had been collected from trees which had fallen and been dead for almost 2 years and exposed to the elements of the 4 seasons during that time.The tank in which he placed the "Marri" (Eucalyptus Calophylla) suffered no adverse outcomes. The tank in which he placed the "Jarrah" (Eucalyptus Marginata) had a 100% kill of the fishes within 36 hours.
Different species have differing properties and chemical constituents.
Be Warned!