I've seen lots of aquariums that have driftwood pieces in them that look beautiful and natural. Every store I go into, Petco, PetSmart, Dr Foster and Smith Online, I can't seem to find any good driftwood pieces, they all look terribly fake in store. Any suggestions? My biggest tank is 20 gal, so it would have to be pretty small.
Driftwood
- Thread starter suzabbe
- Start date
Do you have an LFS near you??? Go there (first measure all dimensions of tank, H, W, L) and then buy the piece you like and then soak the piece for about a week or until all loose debris is off the drift wood and it no longer dyes the water.
The only good pieces I have gotten are from the local places.....
The only good pieces I have gotten are from the local places.....
Driftwood never looks good on the shelf , find a shape and size you like clean it and install it. once it gets soaked good, gets a little dirt/algea Java Fern etc on it it will look very natural. even the funny shaped stuff looks good once it is in the tank IMO.
Dave
Dave
One question about wood...what types of wood can you put in a FW tank? I was thinking some of the reptile wood..but then I noticed that some of the wood are cured or smell funny.
I'd avoid anything marked as reptile wood. Quite simply anything just marked as driftwood will work for fish and reptiles. if they seperate it out., it's probably treated with something. You can also collect your own, but either way it should be driftwood, and it should be cleaned well.
dave
dave
Cool. LFS? Local Fish Store? (noob) I just discovered, yesterday, in fact a lovely local fish store that's got excellent looking tanks and the staff seem to really know what they are talking about... FOR A CHANGE!!! 
Stupid me, I didn't look for driftwood though. I'm going again today to see if they've got anything good.
I saw a piece of Malaysian driftwood that looked really nice but I don't know if it's treated. I'm assuming it would say if it's treated yes? Here's the link: Malaysian Driftwood.
Also, since I've only got a 20 gal tank, this should actually apply to any size tank, adding a few pieces of driftwood will cut down the available water/air in the tank right? Would this also cut down the fish/gal ratio?
Stupid me, I didn't look for driftwood though. I'm going again today to see if they've got anything good.
I saw a piece of Malaysian driftwood that looked really nice but I don't know if it's treated. I'm assuming it would say if it's treated yes? Here's the link: Malaysian Driftwood.
Also, since I've only got a 20 gal tank, this should actually apply to any size tank, adding a few pieces of driftwood will cut down the available water/air in the tank right? Would this also cut down the fish/gal ratio?
The malaysian driftwood is probably fine,
The driftwood will take up some space, but the fish per gallon rule really doesn't work anyhow, check the sticky in the newbie forum. Driftwood is one of the creature comforts that a lot of fish like and some require. the loss of water volume is probably less significant than it may seem, but I would definately find an appropriate size peice and not go too big with it.
LFS? Took me a while to get used to all of the abbreviations, this is the first discussion site I have ever participated in, and things like IMO, IMHO, IME, LFS etc. took me a long time to figure out. The lights eventually came on but they did so very slowly for me.
Dave
The driftwood will take up some space, but the fish per gallon rule really doesn't work anyhow, check the sticky in the newbie forum. Driftwood is one of the creature comforts that a lot of fish like and some require. the loss of water volume is probably less significant than it may seem, but I would definately find an appropriate size peice and not go too big with it.
LFS? Took me a while to get used to all of the abbreviations, this is the first discussion site I have ever participated in, and things like IMO, IMHO, IME, LFS etc. took me a long time to figure out. The lights eventually came on but they did so very slowly for me.
Dave
Malaysian Driftwood is fine. I have 3 pieces in my 30 gal. Daveedka is right, the stuff hardly ever looks good on the shelf. Once you have soaked it, it will darken up a bit with the moisture, scrub off the excess and install. It should work great. Try to use the unique shape of the piece to your advantage. I have one large piece in the rear that has three angles sticking out to one side that I set up against the glass to create a sort of visible shelter for those that want to hide a bit, and another with a dished out bottom that I leave accessable for the loaches and such, and then put java moss over the top. Theres lots of stuff you can do with driftwood.
also know your fish and plants before adding just any drift wood because if they perfer harder more alkiline water common drift wood will soften your water over time . malaysian drift i think is the way to go it dosnt brake down like common so it wint soften the water as much.
the java fern or java moss on the wood is a nice touch to it makes it look very natural
the java fern or java moss on the wood is a nice touch to it makes it look very natural
