I'm thinking about adding some driftwood...

[Crush_a_lot]

I was at the river today, and found some really cool pieces of wood I want to add to my tank. It's boiling in a large pot on my stove at the moment, but is there anything else i should consider before I put it in there?

Will it affect the PH?

It might be redwood, are there any woods that might inherently be toxic?

Is there something I have overlooked?

Thanks y'all

[Lady Hobbs]

As long as it's hardwood and totally dried out, it will be fine. Make sure all loose bark has been removed and there's no sap left in it. The best wood to get is wood that is at the bottom of the river that is already water logged. (Bogwood)

I've never boiled wood before. Never had any that would fit in a pan and grab large pieces intentionally but the boiling should help with tannins.

[Cliff]

+1 to the above

I have a lot of driftwood in my tank and I have not seen any noticable changes in the pH due to that.

I buy all of my driftwood as where I live there are very few hardwood trees around. The larger pcs that I have purchased got a good soaking in the sink with boiling water I made in a pot on the stove. They still leaked some tannins afterwords but I did not mind the look of that at all

[Lady Hobbs]

Same here. I bought several large chunks of driftwood, threw it in the tank and my pH never moved at all. And I don't mind the tannins at all. The water changes take care of that eventually. I like the look, myself, of the amazon tank anyway.

[fishmommie]

you might want to make a small cut in the wood to determine if it's cedar. you'll be able to tell by the aroma. It's my understanding that cedar is not a good choice for a tank. The oils it gives off may be toxic to your fish.