Putting Real Wood in Aquariums

Real wood in an aquarium always makes a lovely and natural looking decoration, but what types of wood are there? Which of those is the best to use? What are the effects of real wood on your aquarium?

The most common kinds of wood used for aquariums are Manzanita wood, Mopani wood, Malaysian driftwood, bog wood, and many other kinds.
All wood that you get (excluding bog wood) should be soaked beforehand to prevent discoloration if that's not what you want. However, for most South American species of fish, murky water is actually natural, so having your piece of wood discolor the tank is not bad for the fish.
If you do plan on soaking the wood though, you can either boil it if it's small enough, or what I do is put it in the bathtub with really hot water for a long time. Sometimes up to a month, actually. The denser the wood, the longer the discoloration is, but the hotter the water temperature, the shorter this process takes.

The best type of wood is really a personal opinion. All woods have certain good and bad qualities to them. My recommendation is Malaysian driftwood. It is a dense, self-sinking wood that I use in my tanks. A wood I would NOT recommend is Mopani. I've never used it, but I hear it causes a nasty white fungus that is detrimental to fish.

The effects of some types of wood on an aquarium is mainly discoloration. Another effect is lowering pH, although this shouldn't be an issue if you use treated tap water. However, RO water is already low in pH, so putting wood in with RO water is a risky situation.

Have fun with your wood!

A lovely piece of Malaysian driftwood