Cedar Wood in Tank?

T

tankenvy

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Apr 4, 2007
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I've been soaking a few chunks of cedar chips from my garden in a bucket of water, after boiling them a few times. Stilll leaching tea-stained water (tannins?) after two days.

Is it crazy to attached Java Ferns to the cedar chips and place them on the floor of the tank? Any potential for toxic stuff in there? I could add the ferns to a large piece of malaysian driftwood I have in there now, but I'd probably have to take it out first, which is a hassle.

pH before last water change was 6.4. Due to the malaysian driftwood being only a month old? (Been doing 25% water changes every week.) Would the cedar chip (about 3" long, 1" wide)
drive pH down more?

Here's my tank setup (can't seem to get that automated):

20g, 30 watts
heavily planted (crypts, ludwigia, anubia)
2 otos
3 corys
3 lemon tetras
3 rummy-nosed tetras
1 million snails
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I don't think it is a good idea to put soft wood in your tank. There are lots of resins and other stuff that is probably bad for your fish in soft woods like cedar and pine. I wouldn't do it if I were you.
 
as above,,,,cedar is a bad idea...not only is it a soft wood,but it is full of oils that will leach into the water
 
Ditto on the above responses. I had a piece of wood that came with a used tank I purchased. I put the wood in boiling water like usual and from the smell and the oil floating on the surface, I realized it was a piece of cedar. No way I would be comfortable putting that in my tank.
 
Thanks for the advice--I ended up taking the big piece of driftwood out and tied on the Java Fern. Should look great once the mulm settles.

I also had some wisteria that wasn't looking good--had lost all lower leaves, so I cut the bushy tops off and replanted them as foreground plants. Have no idea if I can keep it trimmed enough to work as a carpeting plant, but will give it a shot. My guess is I don't have enough light to pull that off (1.5 wpg), but we'll see.

Great site, by the way--been lurking for a while, learned a ton already!! :)
 
Cedar chips are bad, but aged ceder is a great wood for aquariums.

See here:

Discusaltummix1.jpg


And they use this same wood at Tampa Public Aquarium in virtually all their FW displays......So.........what pictures do you all have to refute my success with this wood?

Practical experience trumps everything that's been said here so far.........and on massive scales.............



Regards,

Tom Barr
 
I'm glad you posted Tom, as I have a piece of aged cedar in my 29g and was wondering after reading this post, if I have done something terrible by putting it in the tank. :) I soaked mine for 3 weeks before putting it in the tank and it is very hard (no soft places), so I believe it is ok to use.

Thats a beautiful tank you posted!
 
thank you Tom for posting that.

Beautiful tank!!!

Cedar is actually very good wood to use in tanks..especially if it has been soaking.

softwoods are not always..soft..
cedar actually is a dense wood that thrives in wet environments...cypress is also a conifer that does well in water.

the key is there are several species..some of which may emit more acids than others.
 
From what I've read, certain types of Cedar are bad (the ones from the northwest region of the US.) Southern Cedar is apparently different and is suitable for use in an aquarium. I bought some of this southern Cedar for my aquarium...its really great looking.
 
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