I was out this weekend looking for driftwood at my lfs and the cheapest they had was 54.00 and that was about 12 inches long. I have a large lake by the house and was wondering if it would be okay to use some driftwood out of it after I cleaned it. Is any kind of driftwood okay to use. I really need some because some of the plecs I keep need it in thier diet.
Driftwood
- Thread starter goldnugget
- Start date
So long as you boil it and either treat it with a diluted bleach solution (10%) it will be fine. I have been actually doing this for years.
You should check some of the online stores for driftwood too. They sell it pretty cheap. Try www.petwarehouse.com or www.bigalsonline.com.
If the wood is not waterlogged, you can bolt it to a piece of slate for good measure.
You should check some of the online stores for driftwood too. They sell it pretty cheap. Try www.petwarehouse.com or www.bigalsonline.com.
If the wood is not waterlogged, you can bolt it to a piece of slate for good measure.
Another thing that has not been mentiond in this discussion is that forin woods can tea you wood and dye it different colors if i were you i would jest order wood of find a better place to buy fromi got mine at V.I. pets and i only paid 10 dollers fot a peice that is like 12*8*4 so it is a good size peice for cheep so jest try to buy if you can but i fyou do have to get drift wood i truely hoep that it works for you. I love pleco's jest wish that i could have more of them.
Dave
Dave
I just said screw it and grabbed a few pieces off ebay and I'm extremely happy with the way they look. Grante they were like 8-14$ each which is a lot to pay for stuff in your back yard...but they have some exceptional pieces on ebay at times if your patient.
I didn't bother bleaching/washing/etc...I just glued it to teh bottom of my tank and filled er up....
Granted the tank has been tea yellow for the past 3 months, but thats going away as the tanins are running out...it looks really natural though...its not like the blue color of medicine that just looks stupid.
I wouldn't both washing em....my opinino anyway.
so you get some bugs....like there are no bugs in nature?
I didn't bother bleaching/washing/etc...I just glued it to teh bottom of my tank and filled er up....
Granted the tank has been tea yellow for the past 3 months, but thats going away as the tanins are running out...it looks really natural though...its not like the blue color of medicine that just looks stupid.
I wouldn't both washing em....my opinino anyway.
so you get some bugs....like there are no bugs in nature?
Hi dattack, nice to see you here too! *celebratesmiley*
Folks, I bought a piece of driftwood at PETsMART for $7. I really, really like it. I have a picture at http://www.speakeasy.org/~pnosko/DSCN0702a.jpg. It was dusty as heck, so I soaked it for 24hrs in a bleach solution (10% or so). For the past two weeks, I've been soaking it in clear water (about a 15g tub) with a MaxiJet for circulation, doing daily water changes. It still turns the water a rusty-brown in one day. :'(
Is there anything I can do to stop/prevent this?
Folks, I bought a piece of driftwood at PETsMART for $7. I really, really like it. I have a picture at http://www.speakeasy.org/~pnosko/DSCN0702a.jpg. It was dusty as heck, so I soaked it for 24hrs in a bleach solution (10% or so). For the past two weeks, I've been soaking it in clear water (about a 15g tub) with a MaxiJet for circulation, doing daily water changes. It still turns the water a rusty-brown in one day. :'(
Is there anything I can do to stop/prevent this?
I too agree with the boiling and baking of wood collected from the outside environment. You never know what sort of critters might be on it, especially if you collected from an area near a pond or stream. Bleaching is also a plus, and if you are worried about bleach absorbing into the wood, soak it in tap water conditioner/dechlorinator afterwards as a safety measure. I also perfer to use driftwood I find on the beach, it is usually already pretty well stripped of bark and bleached of tannins. Soaking/boiling it will remove salt residues, and if there are salt water parasitic critters on it, they won't thrive in fresh water.
Wild grape vine is also a pretty neat thing to use in a tank, and easy to obtain, and much better to collect since it is considered an invasive species in some areas. It comes in lots of twisty shapes as well. Other trees I've seen reccomended are apple, cherry, hickory, sycamore, polar, maple, and oak. I've never seen softwoods or pines reccommended. Use dead branches, they're better.
Or go to a scrap lumber yard and see if you can find pieces of untreated wood. They might just give it too you. Then you could sand and drill it into any shape you want. I'd still clean it though with some bleach and a good scrub brush.
~~Colesea
Wild grape vine is also a pretty neat thing to use in a tank, and easy to obtain, and much better to collect since it is considered an invasive species in some areas. It comes in lots of twisty shapes as well. Other trees I've seen reccomended are apple, cherry, hickory, sycamore, polar, maple, and oak. I've never seen softwoods or pines reccommended. Use dead branches, they're better.
Or go to a scrap lumber yard and see if you can find pieces of untreated wood. They might just give it too you. Then you could sand and drill it into any shape you want. I'd still clean it though with some bleach and a good scrub brush.
~~Colesea