Cheap ways to get driftwood

[Fishkeeper123]

I want to get a nice big piece of driftwood for my tank however my LFS( Maidenhead aquatics) are selling a piece of wood for £30-40 pounds. I find this unreasonable so am wondering how I can get a nice piece of driftwood for cheaper. How can I do this? Can I find a piece of wood and do something to it?(not sure what) Any advice helpful so I can save some money.

 

[GaryE]

England? Hmmm.

My Canadian solution is to hop in my kayak and go looking, and barring that, go for a walk where the hardwood is, and look there. I don't think you have that option is sculpted, crowded England...

I pulled up a hedge once, and found the roots to be extremely hard and durable. They lasted at least 10 years in water, after a 6 month soak.

 

[MaloK]

If you want real drift wood, If you are near any coasts, it's the place to go... Be sure to be the first after a good storm.

You could be surprised what can be found. Use one of your pocket knives to check the hardness of the wood you consider. I live near the st-Laurence in Canada and the nice pieces never remain there for long. Also bring a little axe, in case you find a big tree you can bite off a morsel that be of you liking.

The wood can be boiled, backed, bleached, brushed and soaked for a while. Real drift wood is water cured and once treated are very low in nutrient release and even less in tannin

I only bought wood because it was really stunning and It's difficult to find driftwood that has a very dark color, but lighter kind, came along with great nuances with time, some develops purples and green. The natural look is always winner.

 

[Fishkeeper123]

If you want real drift wood, If you are near any coasts, it's the place to go... Be sure to be the first after a good storm.

You could be surprised what can be found. Use one of your "illegal" pocket knives to check the hardness of the wood you consider. I live near the st-Laurence in Canada and the nice pieces never remain there for long. Also bring a little axe, in case you find a big tree you can bite off a morsel that be of you liking.

The wood can be boiled, backed, bleached, brushed and soaked for a while. Real drift wood is water cured and once treated are very low in nutrient release and even less in tannin

I only bought wood because it was really stunning and It's difficult to find driftwood that has a very dark color, but lighter kind, came along with great nuances with time, some develops purples and green. The natural look is always winner.

I live near the coast but the water is all muddy. I think I might have to either get it for 40 pounds or get some cheap ones of Amazon. To anyone from the UK what do you do?

 

[MaloK]

Mud and sand makes the best drift wood you can find imo "rocked in sand" by natural waves...

It really depend on how you are willing to get wet. And how much money you want to save... But the trill of foraging for Rocks and Wood worth a lot more to me.

A muddy piece can be rinsed directly in the water to see what you got, and thrown back on site.

The rest of the cleaning process can be done home... You need to equip yourself for the oddity tho.

 

[Fishkeeper123]

I don’t really have a choice on the coast where I live as it’s all mud and barely any water. There are a few rivers that are near so I can do some research and see if any of them are an option.

 

[MaloK]

You can also persuade many woods to become "drift", pretty fast too.

 

[MattW]

There also might be a few extra pieces of wood around after Storm Eowyn paid a visit today.

 

[MaloK]

Let me be clear... "persuade" !!!

Take a piece of any hard wood at any stage of resting, suiting your need...

Remove all bark, if it;s green and thin use metal wire to tie end cuts and long stretches.

Bake the piece of wood in an oven at really low temperature until completely bone dry.

Force soaking in water until drowned, wait for tannin to go out, x algae, x fungus, x diatoms produced relents. Rinse, brush and... Tadam. It takes a long time...

They are always one my favorite... Not really because they are "that" beautiful. But I darn suffered for them... Loll.