Diy driftwood

[Danlacey1988]

Hi
Has anyone got any advice on doing some DIY driftwood for my fish tank ? Or hardscape
Any advice would be amazing
And has anyone had much success with this
Thanks in advance

 

[PheonixKingZ]

What do you mean by DIY? As in making artificial driftwood?

 

[Danlacey1988]

As in collecting it and treating it so its aquarium safe

 

[mbsqw1d]

I collect oak branches and leaves for mine. Any hard wood (test it by digging your finger nail in. If it makes a mark easily, its too soft) that has dried out is ok. Ideally from an area you're sure hasn't been treated with pesticides and away from heavy polluted area (road side). The wood should be dry that it snaps and doesnt bend. Remove as much of the bark as possible. Again, being dried it should scrape off quite easily. I usually pour a few kettles worth of hot water over them in the bath (if they're too big for your sink). Branches can take about a month to sink in your tank.

 

[Danlacey1988]

I collect oak branches and leaves for mine. Any hard wood (test it by digging your finger nail in. If it makes a mark easily, its too soft) that has dried out is ok. Ideally from an area you're sure hasn't been treated with pesticides and away from heavy polluted area (road side). The wood should be dry that it snaps and doesnt bend. Remove as much of the bark as possible. Again, being dried it should scrape off quite easily. I usually pour a few kettles worth of hat water over them in the bath (if they're too big for your sink). Branches can take about a month to sink in your tank.

I looked on YouTube and they said soak in rock salt and vinegar for a week then change water and soak it for another week think the rock salt and vinegar is to get rid of harmful bacteria etc

 

[mbsqw1d]

I looked on YouTube and they said soak in rock salt and vinegar for a week then change water and soak it for another week think the rock salt and vinegar is to get rid of harmful bacteria etc

It sounds very cautious and won't do any harm. Again, depends where you're collecting from. I haven't done the salt/vinegar thing with what I've collected and added to the tank. Haven't had any issues with fish, if anything they've been spawning.

 

[Danlacey1988]

It sounds very cautious and won't do any harm. Again, depends where you're collecting from. I haven't done the salt/vinegar thing with what I've collected and added to the tank. Haven't had any issues with fish, if anything they've been spawning.

I was thinking treat it attach some java fern to it or something and grow it then put it in my tank

 

[mbsqw1d]

I was thinking treat it attach some java fern to it or something and grow it then put it in my tank

Sounds good. Just to let you know though, The Range (shop) have big buckets full of cheap pieces of bogwood ??

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I definitely wouldn’t soak it in vinegar. Never heard of that. ?

@mbsqw1d pretty much nailed it in post #4.

 

[Boundava]

I have never felt comfortable using wood around me. I can understand if you have access to wooded areas far from residences/roads/commercial farms-businesses; should be free of any chemicals (but not other critters). However for my comfort I will always choose to purchase over gather. Again just me and my comfort level.

 

[Danlacey1988]

Here's the link to said video about using Rock salt and vinegar

 

[madmark285]

Here is a picture of my Little Nippier tank (Odessa and Tiger barbs):

The wood was dead shrubs collected from a trail behind my house. I soaked them in bleach for about 5 days then in plain water for about a month with numerous water changes. I had no worries about the chlorine, it was long gone by the time the wood went into the aquarium. The wood did dry out in the garage as my setup was delay by a few months.

Initially I was getting tannins leaching into the water but it is much less now, the water still has slight tea color to it. When first setup a few months ago, I was doing 25% water changes 3 times/week just to be safe.

EDIT: I suck at growing plants....I want some Anacharis but New York has banned it.
Mark

 

[itiwhetu]

I only ever take wood from beaches. It has to be hard wood that has been in the ocean for months if not years. I never use any fresh wood. I always thought that the salt content in the wood would be detrimental to the aquarium, but I now don't believe that to be the case. I will usually soak the wood for a couple of months in fresh water before adding it to the tank.