Howdy,
I don't recommend it. Tree branches are too "fresh" (even when dry) to be used w/o affecting the water quality. The bark etc offers too much readily biodegradable material, i.e. it'll start "rotting" in your tank. This is not a problem if you have a drip system and constantly get fresh water in (as in lakes and rivers). But most of us don't have that. Here's what I do, and how I select my driftwood:
I am getting a bit lazy and copy/paste my old reply
If you want more info, use our search option and you'll find tons of stuff
. Okay, here's my copy/paste:
Native driftwood is great - if you know what you're doing.
- the river has to be clean, no industry along the shores!
- the wood has to be well weathered, washed out to the fiber. If it has bark, it's too young. It needs to look like it's spent years and years in the water
- only use wood from flowing bodies of water, never from stagnant areas.
- do not use wood that was covered with mud, it must be located in the stream
- Stay away from conifers. Look at the vegetation along the stream and upstream closely!
When I harvest driftwood, I first hose it down with a high-pressure cleaner (carwash). Then, I soak it in saturated salt solution (in the bath tub) for three days (daily fresh). That disinfects it all the way. Then I soak it for a couple of days in daily fresh water to de-salt it. Boiling is most often not an option when you deal with
Monster-Tank-sized driftwood.
And off it goes into my tank. Generally, you have to weigh it down for a short period of time. I tie mine down with fishing line: weighing it down with rocks tied to its bottom. Do
not pile rocks on top of your wood, since it might pop up to float and the rocks fall against the sides of your tank. Depending on the depth of your tank and the buoyancy of the wood, it might even hit your canopy
Self-harvested wood is a lot of fun. I got my latest piece from a canoeing trip
HarleyK
The wood we trimmed was completely dead and dry. The question pertains as to whether or not apple tree wood is aqua safe? Can I put it in my aquarium because some of the limbs are twisted and look really good?
