Is it okay to submerge wood?

[stinax182]

I have a piece of driftwood that was purchased at a pet store. Could I keep it submerged as a way for climb out of the water?

[privet01]

The safe answer is no. But that ignores the very real possibility that if you do, you'll get away with it okay. Just be aware that it's wood. It will start decaying quicker. Decaying stuff typically lowers the pH of your water. So it gets down to the amount of water vs the amount of wood plus how well you monitor your water quality and change it.

Same issues at play with any substrate that is in contact with your water. So to say unequivocally "no" just wouldn't be right.

Of course the other issue is-- do you know if they treated the wood with anything that they don't want in the water?