Chitalpa wood for aquarium?

I have a chitalpa tree in my front yard that we pruned and I kept all of the trimmings from...is it safe to use after I dry it, boil it, etc as I would other driftwood???

 

I wouldn't. Plants in the Bignoniaceae Family are known to contain toxins.

 

@Aquaphobia- do you have a reference that I can read about this tree family? I have small children and now I'm slightly concerned lol

I live in the desert, so driftwood is VERY hard to come by. I really REALLY want to create a natural look tank and I REALLY don't want to buy fake driftwood

 

It's a huge family of plants and since yours is a hybrid it's hard to say whether it has any active properties. One of the parent species, Catalpa, is used in herbal medicine as a diuretic and the sawdust from its wood can cause respiratory distress and dermatitis. The only certain reference to the hybrid being poisonous was a study that showed that extracts killed brine shrimp. For that reason alone I'd be hesitant to put it in an aquarium but maybe it's not a problem if you don't have inverts.

This website might help: https://phytochem.nal.usda.gov/phytochem/search

 

I have only fish- I'm actually fatally allergic to shellfish, so its not something I want to chance LOL. I stick my hands in the tank all the time to clean etc, so it would be awful if I couldnt

maybe ill get a TINY little tank and experiment before I put it in a tank with other fish....I just don't have any other way to get driftwood as we are so far out in the desert ive looked around and ive asked around and no one has anything other than huge chunks of wood- but I wanted manzanita/mangrove root style look...

 

Out of curiosity, can you get cholla? I've heard it's illegal to pick up yourself but maybe what I heard was wrong. It's not the style you're looking for but it does look cool!

 

I have wandered all over the place looking for wood lol. I guess I can order it on ebay or something, I just don't want to get pieces that don't thrill me and be stuck :/

the cholla I can get here is short pieces. I have a vision in my head and I won't be happy with anything different at this point in that particular tank lol

oh the joys of OCD and needing things "just so"

 

I have wandered all over the place looking for wood lol. I guess I can order it on ebay or something, I just don't want to get pieces that don't thrill me and be stuck :/

the cholla I can get here is short pieces. I have a vision in my head and I won't be happy with anything different at this point in that particular tank lol

oh the joys of OCD and needing things "just so"

I've gotten driftwood off eBay. Just make sure you cure it outside in the sun a bit (on all sides) before putting it in your tank.