Getting "driftwood" this weekend from my parent's

[7Enigma]

This weekend I'm taking my daughter to my parent's house and plan on hunting for some driftwood for my 20gallon tank. I'm in SE PA and we have some great vines that grow on large trees that would be perfect for driftwood IMO.

My concern is whether this can be used. These are typical vines that grow up and around the trees in our area and because of this unusual growth they create some very interesting shapes. Spiral shapes around large trunks, spidering bends and twists, and I won't feel bad about cutting some down since they are only harming the trees.

Does anyone have any experience using vines as a pseudo driftwood? My main fear is some toxin that is not present in normal trees, but present in vines...

I plan to cut a small segment for my 20gallon moderately planted tank, strip the bark, and soak it for a couple of weeks. I'll probably finish up with a boiling and a peroxide treatment to try to get rid of any possible tannins or contaminants.


BTW, this is all for my BN pleco that I've had for about 2-3months with no driftwood in the tank. He/she seems healthy and is fed algae tabs, shrimp pellets, and vegetable matter, but I keep hearing how much they love the driftwood.

Thanks!

 

[amosf]

I like to use something that's been soaking in water a long time already to leech out anything that might be there... I look in creeks and lakes and things.

 

[justrelax]

I thought bn's liked driftwood because of the texture, so they can rasp on it. Will a vine provide that? And, if it's live when you cut it, wouldn't you want to dry it out before soaking it to kill it quicker? I've never done anything like that so I don't really know what I'm talking about, these are just the first thoughts that came to mind... Good luck!

 

[7Enigma]

I'm not sure the purpose. I assume it was for rasping for dietary reasons. I don't think texture should matter as long as the BN realizes its a wood product. As for it being dead vs. alive I could always do a peroxide dip FIRST before the long soak. That should kill the vine quite well. And since it oxidizes and then turns to water and oxygen I don't have to worry about chemicals such as bleach sticking around to leech into the water at a later time.

These questions are good though as it makes me think!

I'm at my parent's place now and will have a good hunt tomorrow looking for different pieces of wood. Depending on what I find and the quality I might post some pics to see if anyone locally wants some for free, or cost of shipping. While not true driftwood, we have many different trees and stumps around here so I'm sure I can find some good oak or maple pieces.

Keep the ideas/comments coming.