Buying driftwood for a large aquarium

[Ann from Vermont]

Has anyone ever bought drift wood from www.aquariumdriftwood.com? I am looking for something large for 125 gallon aquarium. The stuff in the plant stores is really expensive and not all that big. According to the above website, it is not necessary to presoak it. I'm also hoping that a large peice will help to lower my Ph. Thanks.
Ann from Vermont

 

[StarOrbs]

Presoaked I've heard is really good because it takes less time to sink. Of course mine which wasn't presoaked has been in my tank for about 20 days and it still floats a little.

 

[Ann from Vermont]

I have a piece of driftwood attached to a piece of slate, that I bought at an aquarium store probably 20 years ago. When I knew I wanted to get back into aquariums I put it in a bathtub, weighted it down with rocks and kept refilling the tub with hot water. I did that for 6 weeks and when I finally started up my aquarium again, it still needed rocks on the slate piece to hold it down. Then after 5 weeks in the aquarium, I tried to remove the rocks and it still wanted to float.

This place that I looking at for driftwood says that "our driftwood sinks naturally. It is collected under water so there is no need for an awkward base to keep it from floating."

I just wish I knew of someone who had ordered from them before.

Ann from Vermont

 

[Opcn]

Vermont id full of trees isn't it, why not just go out and find an attractivepiece of oak and attach it to a large stone base?

 

[Ann from Vermont]

I'm under the impression that you can't use green wood in an aquarium, and anything that I would find on the ground would be in some stage of rotting. Am I wrong about this?? It certainly would be cheaper if I could just find something in the woods....however there's not any driftwood laying around in our woods.

Ann from Vermont

 

[Tolak]

Check out a local landscaping outfit. Last time I went to one to get some rocks they had huge pieces of driftwood for landscaping. They had to be 6 to 8 feet long, $50.

Tolak

 

[Ann from Vermont]

Tolak, That's a great idea! Can you be a bit more specific what you mean by local landscaping outfit? What did you look under in the phone book?

Ann from Vermont