OK got drift wood, now what?

[Gumby131]

i got it from a flood plane, it was half submerged in clay.
waht do i do now?

[04cobratorchred]

I soak it in a bucket of with a very small amount of bleach in there to kill everything and after soaking for a day or so i take it out and soak it in just a plain bucket of water. Or if its small enough you can just bake it in the oven and that will kill anything living in it.

[YuccaPatrol]

scrub it clean, boil it to kill any weird stuff that might be on/in it, and then soak it in a plastic tub until it sinks. Some people keep boiling it until the water no longer turns yellow/brown from the tannins in the wood, but the wood I collect has been underwater long enough that I don't experience this.

I collect all of my own driftwood and really enjoy the hunt as well as the satisfaction that comes from doing something yourself. I've yet to see wood for sale in stores that is anywhere near as nice as what I find locally.

[hmt321]

I boil my DW hard for several hours then dry it out in an oven at low temps (like under 200 F) then i screw it to a piece of ceramic tile to weigh it down.

[Midas-n-Titus]

What kinds of fish benefit from driftwood? I'd like to have a theme to my tank and I don't know if I wanna go with driftwood or rocks.

[YuccaPatrol]

Some plecos need to eat the wood, so it is necessary for some of them.

I personally think driftwood looks a lot better than rocks, but I use a combination of both in my tanks.

Here are two tanks of my found driftwood:

First, my newly re-designed 15 gallon Cherry Shrimp ranch

http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/979/15galPlanted_003.jpg

and my 37 gallon community tank

http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/979/medium/37GalCropSmall.JPG

[Midas-n-Titus]

I really like that second one, Yucca. I might have to use it for inspiration.