Wood for tanks?

[matt davidson]

Does anyone know why Horse-chestnut trees are on the "do not use" list?

Cheers

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Does anyone know why Horse-chestnut trees are on the "do not use" list?

I think it is under the "better safe than sorry" rule, probably because the seeds ("conker") of Aesculus hippocastanum are toxic and contain saponins (aescin) and glucosides (aesculin), as well as some alkaloids (http://research.vet.upenn.edu/poisonous ... fault.aspx).

The leaves are also toxic to some degree, and I assume the green wood would be as well, although presumably not once any sap had gone.

Apparently crushed seeds of some N. American species of Aesculus can be used as fish poison (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_toxins).

cheers Darrel

[gulogulo]

I have several pieces of elm from the tree in my yard in my tanks right now. It was cut fresh and weighted in a spare tank until it sunk (some smaller pieces took less than a week). I did not remove the bark and the fish have been thriving, I have found that my live bearer fry have grown faster in tanks with this fresh wood (constant food source. I also have one small pine stump also sunk relatively fresh that has caused no issues and several pieces of what I think was a dogwood. When I first use a new type of wood I test it in a tank with hardier fish but have honestly never had any issues. If you think about it trees fall into lakes and rivers or small streams and the fish don't die en masse. I realize that the aquarium is much smaller so toxicity is more likely to occur but if something is natural it will often be safer than we think.
One tip if you are making your own bogwood in a spare tank/tub by weighting it down, add an airstone, it stinks a lot less with some water movement!