Red ceder wood in aquariums ?

[-603FiShHoBbIeSt-]

So I've been doing some looking around for a while now trying to figure out if red ceder is safe to use, ( I have 2 large pieces in my 125 gallon setup) I found mixed opinions, some people saying no at all and some saying yes if it is old and boiled/ soaked properly. I have been having an issue with nitrates and wondering if the drift wood could be causing a issue, I've been doing large water changes every other day, and vacuming the gravel/ sand very well and nitrates dont seem to be getting any better. I dont over feed my fish either, I feed my silver dollars and geophagus one time a day sometimes two and my catfish every two to three days. my tap water came back negative for high nitrate levels, it was almost 0. So I'm starting to think its something else ?

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Red cedar is probably ok if it's old,and likely isn't the culprit

 

[-603FiShHoBbIeSt-]

Red cedar is probably ok if it's old,and likely isn't the culprit

I was told the red ceder came from a pond and was water logged for quite some time before being taken out dried and sold at my lfs, not sure how old it actually is tho.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

If it is hard and has no bark it should be fine

 

[-603FiShHoBbIeSt-]

If it is hard and has no bark it should be fine

Okay yah it’s pretty solid and has no bark

 

[Drstrangelove]

Wood has very little nitrogen and the chance that it's changing the nitrate levels in a tank would seem to be close to nil.