Driftwood

[hondamx]

I'm considering buying some driftwood. In the magazine I get they have real driftwood, fake driftwood and fake rock. What's the best?

[dorkfish]

I'm considering buying some driftwood. In the magazine I get they have real driftwood, fake driftwood and fake rock. What's the best?
Real drifwood of course, although it may turn your water yellow (this can be prevented by boiling it before putting it in your tank), it will probably look 3x better than fake driftwood.

[hondamx]

I've heard you had to soak real driftwood for a week. Is that true??

[dorkfish]

I've heard you had to soak real driftwood for a week. Is that true??

In order to get it to sink, you may have to soak certain types for years. But, thankfully, you can anchor the driftwood down, so you don't have to worry about that. However, the reason that you were told you have to soak driftwood for a week was probably to remove tannins (makes the water yellow) from it, wich can be done way faster by boiling it until the water no longer turns yellow (after changing the water your boiling the driftwood in).

[debaric]

petco actually has "malaysian" driftwood which im sure a lot of us here have seen there. Its a really beautiful dark brown color. I dont always see it there though, anyone have this driftwood as well? Mine didnt affect the pH or create blackwater. I just rinsed and dropped it in.

[andyb325]

I have one that i bought at the local lfs. I couldnt soak it enough, and still wants to float. I had to use some fish line/suction cups to keep it down. its been down for 6-8 months with no problems.

[Spykce]

I bought some at a LFS that has suction cups on it to keep it down. Looks awesome and my Royal pleco loves it. Only bad thing is that it has to be by a side. I'm going to buy some that will sink I hope sometime. Real looks nicer IMO