# driftwood



## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

where can a person go to find driftwood in nature and what would i look for? i want to find a nice piece that can be stood on end, and most sold in stores seem to lay pretty flat. i guess i just want to know how i know i got a good piece lol... :dancing:


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## ChadRamsey (Mar 12, 2010)

any lake in your area SHOULD have what your looking for.

I took my 10 and we walk the shore line and we found more than we can carry.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

i did see some by the lake, lake erie, but is any wood good? i got weak fingernails so i can't do the fingernail test lol


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Step one is to NOT believe much of what you read about driftwood. That leaves you free to not worry about getting the "wrong" kind. Some wood will rot quicker than others but keep in mind that driftwood has been dead for a long time and floating around for a long time. That takes most of the quick rotting stuff out of the question. If it only lasts 5-10 years in your tank, will that be okay? I've never had any rot out from under me but if it does, I will get more for free. It may add to the bio-load for my filter but I can deal with that.

I go to the lake to pick most of mine. I have also picked some out of bulldozer piles. I like the gnarly snags that you can find either place. If it has obvious rotten wood, I usually pass it as there is so much good stuff that doesn't require the cleaning. I take a small saw as the really fully dry wood will be hard. After that , the whole array of choices is yours.

You may get cedar or others. They may put tannins or oils in your water. Both can be dealt with or even replaced if you find them too much trouble. I just collect way more than I want and soak them for a while before I decide which to keep. Bleaching them may take the color out but it comes back once it's in the tank.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

awesome! thanks for that info. looks like all wood works, it's just a matter of trial and error. i think i'm goin drift huntin hehe


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

A couple of my favorite found wood. I think these are both cedar and they did stain the water for a while.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

very nice items. thats just what type of stuff im lookin for


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

well, i think the climate may play a role in finding wood. at least near water anyway. i went to the lake, three rivers, and a wildlife lake area with lots of wood. every one of them had wood, but all of it was easily broken due to the rot. i think its cause here in ohio, we get freezing weather then summer weather. it tears wood up. i will find a piece in due time.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

yay i found a piece i think. how do i put pics on here anyway?
the wood looks like it was previously submerged. it has barnacles on it lol. i pressure washed it and it's pretty well intact still. guess my next question is how can i steralize the wood to remove any bad critters? it's too big for a boiling pot.


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## alanvickiuk (Jun 14, 2009)

hello mate

firstly to post pics join photobucket.com upload your pics using the uploader then copy the image code and post in your thread easy as that 

as for steralizing wood in the past i have as you say pressure washed it then put it in the bathtub using kettles to cover in boiling water with 2 caps full of household bleach leave ove night then pressure wash it again then boil with no bleach make sure there is no smell of bleach and add to your tank i have always found this succesful and never lost a fish doing so also done it with rocks and rock that has come from saltwater ie the beach or a saltwater tank


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

thank you... let me try that site. funny, that is right where the wood is at the moment... in the tub


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## alanvickiuk (Jun 14, 2009)

lol it always is thats the only place half the pieces fit lol


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

[/url]http://s1188.photobucket.com/albums/z407/awilson0001/0905102107.jpg wonder if this will work... here goes


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

lol thats funny. i will have to toy with that site some to figure things out


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## alanvickiuk (Jun 14, 2009)

i think you have copied the img code wrong

should start and end in


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## alanvickiuk (Jun 14, 2009)

that does look like a nice piece of bog wood though good find


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

Weeeee... :dancing: ...look at me go! thanks for the help mate.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

here is another one... i am gonna try to get a better shot of the nice hole it has for the fish...


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## alanvickiuk (Jun 14, 2009)

no probs buddy as i say nice piece you need some pics of your tank now and then with it in i love pics


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

aye pics are fun to share and see. i got a couple on my other post with some of my fish and i will be trying for a few more and maybe a video later to show how active it gets. it's on "is my tank too crowded" post.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Once you have the photo on Photobucket, Resize, etc. to make it smaller and load faster, you should find a direct link when you hover over the photo. Use ctrl and "C" to copy it. Open your post to where you want the pic. Click the IMG box above the post, Ctrl "V" to add the link, then click IMG again to finish adding the photo.

I used wood from freezing areas before moving here. I would somewhat shy away from the big lakes where more oil, etc. are spilled. Any smaller man-made lakes in reach? They will have wood that drifts back into coves and such if they have high and low levels at different times. What I like is the stuff that gets left high and dry after drifting for some time. The drifting knocks off the loose stuff and wears down the sharp points. Then if it's left to dry for years it can get a nice grey/white color and get "character. That also weeds out the weak stuff.

No way I could ever boil my pieces so I've used a bleach soak since the 70's. If bleach is safe enough for my skiveys I think it's safe for my fish, if you catch what I mean. :wink:


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

lol thanks for the added info. ill see what else i can scavange up.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

will my driftwood get its color back? the bleach has turned it kinda white. :?  :?


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

It may take a week or so but yes, it will come back. The bleach reacts with the surface, turning it white but then all the natural processes take over again. Most of the white things we put in the tank will turn darker over time.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

i pressure treated my piece of drift wood after the bleaching and soaking. it is a mix of lighter and darker spots which will even out over time, but there are a few spots that are black. should i be concerned about black mold? i did bleach it and soaked it in boiling water, so anything like that should be dead?

is it possibly just some of the woods color?


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Yes, no worry there. There will often be knots or other spots in wood which don't color as the rest does. The bleach will have killed any mold if given some time. Over night is what I like. The problem with the boiling is that some "critters" we want to kill form hard shelled cysts when they dry. They wait out dry periods and then return when it's wet again. It is part of their survival act. The boiling may not penetrate the shell. The chlorine in bleach reacts with any organic matter it encounters, including hard shelled cysts. That does not mean that algae won't grow if conditions are right but that is not the fault of the wood.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

i soaked it in a 55g trash can for about 24 hours with about 45g water and i qt bleach. that good enough? hopefully i may try putting in the tank soon yay


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

okay, i attempted to test the ph of my water with the wood in it. it reads higher than my tank. so my question is... is it the tannins that are messing with the color or is that the actual ph?


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## TexasFishGuy (Aug 20, 2010)

The tannins will change the color of the water...I would soak the wood in fresh water daily until it stops leeching color.

Question...did you test the water with the bleach in it, or did you rinse the wood really well, and let it thoroughly dry?


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

i bleached it for about 24 hours then pressure washed it, then soaked it in boiling and hot tap for about 2 days, then pressure washed, then soaked again for about 2 days.

in my white tub if it sits for 24 hours(thats all it can sit in the tub due to bath time lol), it barely changes the water. maybe a hint grey white color. nothing really brown or deep yellowing.

i tested it today after all of the other stuff was done. reason i ask is cause the test showed my ph being higher. wood is supposed to lower the ph, so i wondered if its from the greyish white color of the water or could it actually raise my ph?

always heard wood lowers ph. but, this piece had been in a lake before i got it and had small shells/clams inbedded in it. could the shell pieces have caused this wood to have a different affect on ph?


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

The wood itself will take some time normally to change the color of the water. I can't think of anything that wood make it turns grey. Normal tannin color I have found is more brown if at all but even that takes a bit. What it takes is the sap still left in the wood to come out in the water. If it has been dry for a long time, what is left comes out pretty slow (weeks maybe?)

For the wood lowering PH, it is a matter of the organic (wood) decaying in the water, that slowly lowers the PH. I'm guessing any PH rise might be a simple testing error. Maybe different light when you read the colors? Shells could have an effect but then they will only dissolve in your tank pretty much as they did in the lake so if they didn't do it overnight in the lake , they probably will not in your tank? Sounds like you have really worked that wood over and if you have not used any soap, detergent or that sort of thing, I would think you are ready to go. It takes a bit of time for tank PH and such to settle down. Any fine silt and such has to settle as well as various gas to drift out of the water. wait a couple days and your readings will steady up so you can see what's happening. None of this will go 0-60 in a day. Weeks, maybe.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

well the test was done with two tubes side by side, 1 was tap water the other was the water with the wood. i even retested it.

it may be more of a slight yellowish white. hard to say when my tub is an off white lol.


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## thedriftwoodguy (Mar 27, 2013)

I got some 
See my profile, it's hard and good mounted to slate will last many years.


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