Driftwood

L

llamabob

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Dec 14, 2006
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Don't really wanna shell out $60 for a piece of wood.

I've heard many people find their own driftwood.

I live in upstate NY, is this a suitable area/climate for finding driftwood or must it come from a more tropical place.

And if I can, what do I look for to ensure it won't rot in my tank?

Thanks.
 
just cure it as best as possible... i think it's only a matter of luck wether it rots or not in the tank.

i guess boiling it will do...

or if the wood is rotting, i heard that you can get a carving knife and just carve out the rotting pieces...
 
I'm in a tropical place so it makes it easier, but still I try to find wood in creeks, rivers and other water that has already been soaking and rotting a while. This way you find good hard wood and it's partly cured. You can then just soak it or boil it some and it's ready to go. You get some pieces with nice character as well...
 
Just wanna chime in a few words of warning. Make sure your driftwood is'nt fresh cut. It usually takes six months to a year for all the resins to leach out of some woods, like pine. These can poison your tank... Wood that's been sitting in water leech faster, smaller wood leeches faster etc etc, but make sure the water is clean. Polluted streams or bodies of water can put the pollution into the wood, and it can wind up in your tank. Fot a list of poatable (drinkable) or clean waters near you, your state park service, epa or forrestery should be able to tell you with a simple phone call, or web search. It's also a good idea to remove bark from any found wood. Happy hunting!
 
Malefic23 said:
Just wanna chime in a few words of warning. Make sure your driftwood is'nt fresh cut. It usually takes six months to a year for all the resins to leach out of some woods, like pine. These can poison your tank... Wood that's been sitting in water leech faster, smaller wood leeches faster etc etc, but make sure the water is clean. Polluted streams or bodies of water can put the pollution into the wood, and it can wind up in your tank. Fot a list of poatable (drinkable) or clean waters near you, your state park service, epa or forrestery should be able to tell you with a simple phone call, or web search. It's also a good idea to remove bark from any found wood. Happy hunting!
Click to expand...

More good ideas.

I live in upstate NY, the really, upstate part :p So there are a LOT of clean, unscathed streams and rivers around here, I've been camping out a lot so I have some good places in mind for cleaner waters, and I'll keep an eye out for harder woods and no pines.

Amosf: Yeah I just left Orlando, but I wouldn't take anything from waters down there, haha, but I bet the parks had some nice lookin stuff floating around.
 
I would not worry too much about pines(pinacea family) rotting faster..this statement is simply not true. take cedar for instance..in the cypress genus. these trees well know for their resistance to breakdown when submerged. other 'pines' also fit the bill.
the only ting I would suggest is you try to get wood that has been submerged as the water will allow the resins to slowly release.
what you may find out about many deciduous trees is they they may actually break down more quickly.
 
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