Driftwood as part of aquascape?

[Mitch DownUnder]

Okydoke, hi everyone... long time reader of RC but first time posting. Here goes;

What sort of things would you need to consider before using wood in a marine aquarium? I have always loved seeing the life that grows and surrounds the pylons of an old jetty and was thinking how interesting it would be to have a 'jetty pylon environment' (for want of better words) as part of a home setup.

Already I can see some obvious questions that would need to be resolved..

- the timber would need to be very aged, preferably already exposed to seawater for a long time

- How would it affect the tank's chemistry? (eg, softening, tanins?)

- Would it act like live rock once fully colonised (colonized)?

- Is it just plain bad news, and this is why we only see this done in public aquariums?

I'm only thinking out loud at this stage and thought I would throw the concept out there to see if anyone has had similar thoughts or has actually used wood in their tanks.

Cheers from Australia everyone!!

[new_world_disor]

im not of the effects or anything. but im preety sure it would go mouldy or nasty in the SW :)

[ed102475]

I am not sure about what it would do to the water chemistry but i think it might turn the water yellow/ brown.

check this out . It's not real.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-85300140756196_1985_41244434


http://www.aquariumguys.com/driftwood-decorations.html

[Jake_07]

you can find driftwood in the on the beach sometimes i think it would be ok

[m2434]

Some of the stuff on line warns about yellowing even in FE, I'd be careful. If you really want to, you could seal it in clear epoxy paint or something...

[teamdulski]

Driftwood is used in FW tanks to soften the water and make it more acidic, the opposite of what you want in a SW tank. Plus it does have tannins in it, so that will yellow the water.

[thecichlidpleco]

yep, as already said, it will turn the water and lower the pH, this is fine if you want a south american tank, but not saltwater.

[McTeague]

I had some wood in my tank, it would always get a nasty coating on it and looked awful. I constantly had to scrub it with a tooth brush to keep it looking like wood. It is back in my fresh water tank now.

[Mitch DownUnder]

Ok so I think the consenus is that unless you can fake it.. it's not worth it to go the real thing.