Rebel1970
Aquarium Advice Activist
Has anyone collected and use their own driftwood. How did you treat it to prepare it for the aquarium?
Driftwood
- Thread starter Rebel1970
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes, I use collected wood.
To make aquarium safe, I suggest:
1. Collect hardwood only, preferable ones that had been seasoned for at least a year. <Otherwise, you would have to do the seasoning yourself & it will take months.>
2. Collect from non-polluted areas - stay away from farms in case of pesticide residue.
3. Remove all rotting parts with saws, chisels, etc. Wash thoroughly, scrub with wire brush to remove all loose debris. <You can do the prelim cleaning with a high pressure washer ... saves lots of scrubbing.>
4. Disinfect & water log the wood. If the wood is small enough, you can boil the piece for 1/2 hr or so. For bigger pieces, pour boiling water over the wood & soak it in the hot water.
5. Sink the wood in a barrel of water (put some rocks on top of it) until it is water-logged & will remain submerged on its own. Change the water from time to time to remove tannins that leech out from the wood. Keep soaking until the wood is water logged & the soak water is clear enough for you. tannins are not dangerous, but some don't like the tea colored water in your tank. So it is best to get rid of most of the tannins while the wood soaks in the barrel. How long this will take depends on the wood. Seasoned wood will take much shorter (few weeks), others might take a year or more. I try to collect wood from the bottom of a lake or river, so the wood already is water-logged & tannin depleted.
To make aquarium safe, I suggest:
1. Collect hardwood only, preferable ones that had been seasoned for at least a year. <Otherwise, you would have to do the seasoning yourself & it will take months.>
2. Collect from non-polluted areas - stay away from farms in case of pesticide residue.
3. Remove all rotting parts with saws, chisels, etc. Wash thoroughly, scrub with wire brush to remove all loose debris. <You can do the prelim cleaning with a high pressure washer ... saves lots of scrubbing.>
4. Disinfect & water log the wood. If the wood is small enough, you can boil the piece for 1/2 hr or so. For bigger pieces, pour boiling water over the wood & soak it in the hot water.
5. Sink the wood in a barrel of water (put some rocks on top of it) until it is water-logged & will remain submerged on its own. Change the water from time to time to remove tannins that leech out from the wood. Keep soaking until the wood is water logged & the soak water is clear enough for you. tannins are not dangerous, but some don't like the tea colored water in your tank. So it is best to get rid of most of the tannins while the wood soaks in the barrel. How long this will take depends on the wood. Seasoned wood will take much shorter (few weeks), others might take a year or more. I try to collect wood from the bottom of a lake or river, so the wood already is water-logged & tannin depleted.
Rebel1970
Aquarium Advice Activist
Cool thanks for the info.
Rebel1970
Aquarium Advice Activist
So answer this...What is the worst that will happen if soft wood is placed in the aquarium? I honestly want to know. This is for my information only. Thanks
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
Softwood are full of pith ... the sticky aromatic sap ... unless all the sap is gone (it will take years ... esp. for cedar which will retain the aromatic oils for decades), it will irritate the fish & might stress them enough to bring on disease.
And softwood rots in water so they don't last long.
And softwood rots in water so they don't last long.
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
No idea if SW is better than fresh. I collected my driftwood from FW lakes, so that is a moot point.
Boiling in SW will sterilize the wood for FW. But then you will have to soak for a long time to get the salt out.
Boiling in SW will sterilize the wood for FW. But then you will have to soak for a long time to get the salt out.
kbuser92
Aquarium Advice Regular
i've collected my own, as well. i used some bark pieces, which were all smaller, and i soaked them for some time for them to become water logged and the tanins to leach out. i tried some larger pieces, but it was taking way too long for me and you have to do frequent water changes. or it smells. bad.
and softwoods will rot a lot sooner than hardwoods, not sure why, but they do. another thing you can use is small branches from hardwood trees; just soak them the same. i have some smaller branches in my tank right now and i like it.
: ] good luck
and softwoods will rot a lot sooner than hardwoods, not sure why, but they do. another thing you can use is small branches from hardwood trees; just soak them the same. i have some smaller branches in my tank right now and i like it.
: ] good luck
fishbreath
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2011
- Messages
- 1
hello everyone im new to this 
i am a beginner with the fish and i love it so far. i wanted drift in my tank so i collect some from catalina island beach shore i just boiled it for two hours and by boiling it that long it will water log by the time the two hours are up and take out most of the tannin and then i would soak it for two days in wate,r then just wash it out, if it has holes mostly likely will, i would just blast water in it and take out all the tanin, i would shake it and get all in there and then i would have clean drift that wont turn my water tea color and water logged in two days!
i am a beginner with the fish and i love it so far. i wanted drift in my tank so i collect some from catalina island beach shore i just boiled it for two hours and by boiling it that long it will water log by the time the two hours are up and take out most of the tannin and then i would soak it for two days in wate,r then just wash it out, if it has holes mostly likely will, i would just blast water in it and take out all the tanin, i would shake it and get all in there and then i would have clean drift that wont turn my water tea color and water logged in two days!richellemedina
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2011
- Messages
- 4
Driftwood is wood that has washed up on beach or shore of the sea or river, which winds, tides, waves or man. It is a kind of marine debris or trees tidewrack.Most woods are still wholly or partially, which was washed into the sea, because of flooding, high winds or other natural phenomena, or the result of recording.
