Question about driftwood.
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For starters, don't pull any out of the ocean. It's been soaking in saltwater ...
Try looking for a large lake with pine trees near it. I think. I think it's pine that lends itself to driftwood better. A large, windy lake ringed by forest will produce more driftwood, I guess.
I live in minneapolis, MN. When I want driftwood, I truck on up to the great lakes and just pluck it.
Lucky me.
If the chunk you find is small enough to fit in a noodle pot or whatever, give it a good boiling. You may still notice some weird fungus growing on the driftwood when you place it in the aquarium, even if you did boil it.
Try looking for a large lake with pine trees near it. I think. I think it's pine that lends itself to driftwood better. A large, windy lake ringed by forest will produce more driftwood, I guess.
I live in minneapolis, MN. When I want driftwood, I truck on up to the great lakes and just pluck it.
Lucky me.If the chunk you find is small enough to fit in a noodle pot or whatever, give it a good boiling. You may still notice some weird fungus growing on the driftwood when you place it in the aquarium, even if you did boil it.
Stay away from softwoods (aka pines), and stick with hardwoods (Maple, sycamore, apple, cherry, poplar, etc). Don't do willow or witchhazel. Willow and witchhazel can be posion. Make sure you select dry wood, not green (aka fresh, still alive wood) or totally rotten apart wood.
It is perfectly okay to pull driftwood from the ocean, I do all the time, being as how I don't live near any freshwater lakes, but have 24 hour access to some of the best beaches. Any salt residue in the wood will be removed during the curing process.
Whether from the ocean or from the lakes, the best way to cure driftwood is to first take off all the bark. Usually wood found on the beach is already removed of bark, which is why I like it so much. You can remove the bark by peeling it off or with a good chisle. After getting all the bark removed, scrub the wood under some running water with a good, stiff brush. This can be done in a bathtub or under the hose outside. Scrubbing the wood will get off dirt and other organic particles.
Next, depending upon the size of the wood you find, you can soak it in a 5 gallon bucket (I like ten gallon plastic garbage pails because I can get a lot more bigger pieces into them<G>) of a 10% bleach solution. That's one part bleach for nine parts water. Regular water is fine, and it does not have to be hot. Mix the bleach solution completely, and soak your wood for 24 hrs. This will ensure that anything living on the wood, parasites or fungus, is completely dead.
After your soak in bleach, you are going to rinse and scrub your wood again, and do so vigorously. Then you will wash out your bucket and use it to soak your wood again. This time you will add libral amounts of tap water conditioner (aka water dechlorinator) to your water, and soak your wood for a week, changing the water daily. After this phase is when I usually stick the wood in my tanks.
You may notice that the water you pour out of your buckets has been turned yellow or tea colored. This is because of chemicals known as tannins that are in all plants (it is what gives tea its color). These tannins will also turn the water in your tank yellow. Some people prefer to soak their wood with daily water changes until all the yellow color is gone, and this may take up to four weeks depending upon the thickness and size of your wood piece. Some people like the tannin color in their tanks, and use the wood anyway. Carbon in the filters will help speed up tannin removal from your tank, and the carbon should be changed daily during this process for maximum effeciency. Tannins in low concentrations will not hurt your fish, but high levels of tannins can cause your tank to turn acidic, so it is recommended that you monitor your water chemistry carefully and do water changes as necessary to keep your pH stable when adding tanic wood to your tank.
Some people also prefer to bake their wood, drying it out completely either in the sun or in the oven. I do not know what temperature settings you would use to dry wood in your oven and not have spotanious combustion. Of course drying wood in the sun depends upon the humidity of your region.
Also, other people will recommend siliconing the wood to slate or other rocks to weigh it down so it sinks. If using silicon, you must wait a week before placing the piece in your tank so that the silicon dries completely. Other people will simply let the wood soak up water during the rinsing part, or let it sit in a seperate bucket until it no longer floats before placing it in their tank. Never pile anything on top of a still floating piece of wood. The wood may come dislodged, knocking over things that could damage your tank or fish.
Hope this covers all the bases for you.
~~Colesea
It is perfectly okay to pull driftwood from the ocean, I do all the time, being as how I don't live near any freshwater lakes, but have 24 hour access to some of the best beaches. Any salt residue in the wood will be removed during the curing process.
Whether from the ocean or from the lakes, the best way to cure driftwood is to first take off all the bark. Usually wood found on the beach is already removed of bark, which is why I like it so much. You can remove the bark by peeling it off or with a good chisle. After getting all the bark removed, scrub the wood under some running water with a good, stiff brush. This can be done in a bathtub or under the hose outside. Scrubbing the wood will get off dirt and other organic particles.
Next, depending upon the size of the wood you find, you can soak it in a 5 gallon bucket (I like ten gallon plastic garbage pails because I can get a lot more bigger pieces into them<G>) of a 10% bleach solution. That's one part bleach for nine parts water. Regular water is fine, and it does not have to be hot. Mix the bleach solution completely, and soak your wood for 24 hrs. This will ensure that anything living on the wood, parasites or fungus, is completely dead.
After your soak in bleach, you are going to rinse and scrub your wood again, and do so vigorously. Then you will wash out your bucket and use it to soak your wood again. This time you will add libral amounts of tap water conditioner (aka water dechlorinator) to your water, and soak your wood for a week, changing the water daily. After this phase is when I usually stick the wood in my tanks.
You may notice that the water you pour out of your buckets has been turned yellow or tea colored. This is because of chemicals known as tannins that are in all plants (it is what gives tea its color). These tannins will also turn the water in your tank yellow. Some people prefer to soak their wood with daily water changes until all the yellow color is gone, and this may take up to four weeks depending upon the thickness and size of your wood piece. Some people like the tannin color in their tanks, and use the wood anyway. Carbon in the filters will help speed up tannin removal from your tank, and the carbon should be changed daily during this process for maximum effeciency. Tannins in low concentrations will not hurt your fish, but high levels of tannins can cause your tank to turn acidic, so it is recommended that you monitor your water chemistry carefully and do water changes as necessary to keep your pH stable when adding tanic wood to your tank.
Some people also prefer to bake their wood, drying it out completely either in the sun or in the oven. I do not know what temperature settings you would use to dry wood in your oven and not have spotanious combustion. Of course drying wood in the sun depends upon the humidity of your region.
Also, other people will recommend siliconing the wood to slate or other rocks to weigh it down so it sinks. If using silicon, you must wait a week before placing the piece in your tank so that the silicon dries completely. Other people will simply let the wood soak up water during the rinsing part, or let it sit in a seperate bucket until it no longer floats before placing it in their tank. Never pile anything on top of a still floating piece of wood. The wood may come dislodged, knocking over things that could damage your tank or fish.
Hope this covers all the bases for you.
~~Colesea
Yeah I agree . . . to the concern of how pricey the driftwood is. I Have seen it as high as $10 per lb. and as low as $4 per lb. (Sacramento CA area) Even still I hate to apen my money on it unless I find a really good decorative piece I cannot live without.
Good luck on the search and curing efforts.
Good luck on the search and curing efforts.
Good post! I just got some driftwood at a semi decent price. I have a bristlenose catfish and I keep reading they need driftwood to actually eat. It's a small piece of wood but I was worried about it dropping the pH. If the wood is attached to a piece of slate already and I got it from the pet ship does anyone think it might have already been treated by chance?
Driftwodd is not very overpriced, just pay the money, i did it only cost me about 90 dollars for 2 great pieces of driftwood for my 75 gallon. If you'r going to have a tank, don't be cheap, becuase sometimes cheap is a very bad thing!!!! I soaked my driftwood for 20 minutes put it in the tank, filled the tank up with water and the only cloudiness was from the gravel. no tea color at all.
How much does driftwood over there cost.
How much does driftwood over there cost.
A bit late, but Colesea's post is right on the money.
I use huge pieces that my dad finds. They are big enough that I have a hard time fitting them into a trash can (the kind that kegs go in--hehe). I began soaking a piece during spring break, and only now has it begun to stay on the bottom. It still leeches tannins, which is no real biggie, just keep the water changed.
And there is nothing wrong with the driftwood in or about New Orleans. I have a friend from there, and it's all freshwater, unless you're down by the tributaries/ocean. Even then, re-read Colesea's post
I use huge pieces that my dad finds. They are big enough that I have a hard time fitting them into a trash can (the kind that kegs go in--hehe). I began soaking a piece during spring break, and only now has it begun to stay on the bottom. It still leeches tannins, which is no real biggie, just keep the water changed.
And there is nothing wrong with the driftwood in or about New Orleans. I have a friend from there, and it's all freshwater, unless you're down by the tributaries/ocean. Even then, re-read Colesea's post
Good post Colesea. I do basically the same thing and always have few pieces soaking just in case I set up a new tank or feel like elaborating on an old one. I usually find mine just underground around my house. The chickens dig it up or I do if I see a little bit sticking up. I figure if it can survive decades underground without rotting or turning soft it'll do fine in my aquariums.