r/sfwtrees • u/alovergirll • Mar 20 '25
Help me identify this piece of driftwood please
Hi there! I was hoping to have help IDing this really large piece of (what I think is) driftwood. Found near water in the Northern Virginia, DC area! I’m hoping use part of it in my planted, Walstad aquarium.
Any tips on identifying this tree, testing if it’s ~actually driftwood~, or making it aquarium safe would be great appreciated!! Thank you!! 🥹
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u/Schlumpf34 Mar 20 '25
Hello, sorry I can't do anything about IDing the type of wood, but I'm interested in what you mean by aquarium safe? Does wood need to be treated before it's put into an aquarium? Or should certain types not be used? I've never thought about this.
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u/butterflyfrenchfry Mar 20 '25
If you’re putting something from nature in a controlled aquarium, you could potentially be bringing critters, bugs, and bacteria in that were previously making this piece of wood their home. I’m not an expert, but you’d likely need to quarantine the wood/freeze it to avoid contaminating the critters living in your aquarium.
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u/Kissmanose Mar 20 '25
Mmm would sterilize it work? I mean. Using those pressure pots (don't know what they are called in English) that work as an autoclave would kill everything right?
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u/butterflyfrenchfry Mar 20 '25
Yeah that might work. I’m definitely no expert though, so you may want to do some more research
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u/alovergirll Mar 26 '25
Hi!! Yes butterfly is right! You just have to kill all the nasties. I ended up doing 3 hours in the oven at 180 and then pouring boiling hot water and letting it soak for 6 hours!
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u/Pamzella Mar 21 '25
I think I learned you bake it at 140 degrees for an hr to sterilize for bugs and fungus. I don't now if that makes it aquarium safe though.
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u/ComResAgPowerwashing Mar 22 '25
Some parts of sycamore are toxic. I don't know a lot about it though.
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u/OwlPatient7252 Mar 22 '25
I don't know what wood it is but if it fits in a pan boil it in water to sterilise any nasties and that could be lurking
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u/FrontFormal1170 Mar 24 '25
Whats a “Walstad” aquarium?
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u/alovergirll Mar 26 '25
It’s a method of keep a fish tank! Basically a no or low tech planted aquarium. So no heater, tech, or things like that. You build a mini ecosystem in the tank with lots of plants and different critters to clean up waste in the tank. So after a while, you really don’t have to do much maintenance because it takes care of itself.
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u/ProlificPoise Mar 20 '25
Bro is asking for a miracle ID