Driftwood?

[PheonixKingZ]

Hello TFF! How has your day been?

I have 2 questions:

1( Where can I find cheap, safe driftwood? At my LFS driftwood cost $18 for a small piece. I just can’t afford that.

2( I have this old piece of really light driftwood, that has a cool shape. Is it safe to put in my 29g once I soak it? It has been in my house forever and I remember finding it outside.

Here is the piece I speak of:

(I have a 5G bucket that I used to soak driftwood in the past.)
Thanks in advance.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Maybe boil it? I am hoping to find some driftwood at the beach and boil it to put in my tank. Store bought is just so darn expensive

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I agree, it cost so much!

 

[JuiceBox52]

I agree, it cost so much!

I may ask my grandma if she has any... she scavenged the beaches a lot! Are you near any beaches?

 

[JuiceBox52]

I may ask my grandma if she has any... she scavenged the beaches a lot! Are you near any beaches?

Ah never mind I see you are from Kentucky

 

[Byron]

You have to be careful with collected wood. Boiling may deal with some critters, but it also causes the wood to rot apart faster. And only collect from a safe location. Hardwood (beech, oak, etc) should be safe as far as the wood itself; never use coniferous wood.

Wood collected in water is obviously fraught with risks. Dried (dead dry) wood like the pice in post #1 should be safe from this aspect as it has dried out completely. However, that does not mean it may not contain toxins. Wood will readily absorb liquids.

 

[Retired Viking]

I am wondering the same thing, driftwood is very expensive here too. I went down to lake Michigan awhile back to look for some. On the upper part of the lake where there is very little industry and found a few pieces on the beach. I suppose I could take a drive over to Lake superior there is very little industry there too. The lakes are very high this time of year so there was not much beach to search.

 

[Retired Viking]

This is what I found, I think I will wait until spring when the snow melts and I can go into the the sand dunes and woods next to the lake and look. There are a lot of birch trees there.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

coniferous

What trees does this area include?

Nice pieces @Retired Viking. I wish I could find some nice pieces around my house.

 

[Back in the fold]

@Byron has made many informed posts in the past on this subject. If I remember correctly a hardwood, completely dried, is good and any resinous wood like juniper is no good at all. Boiling may not be advantageous but I wonder if soaking in a strong salt solution might be good.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Is Cedar considered bad? Because I found this nice piece of cedar and I soaked it for about a month. It looks great in my tank and I have had no problem with it yet.

I would like to find some nice looking driftwood around my property, so I don’t have to spend $100 on 2 pieces of driftwood. Where would be a good place to look?

 

[Essjay]

Cedar is coniferous.

In very broad terms
Conifers have needle shaped leaves and they don't fall off in winter
Deciduous trees have proper leaves which fall off in winter.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I would scavenge from lakes and stay away from oceans/Gulf. Oil spills can soak in and make wood toxic.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I just read an interesting article on preparing driftwood.

It said that with softwood, you can dig your fingernails in it. Hardwood, you can’t. Is this right?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I would scavenge from lakes and stay away from oceans/Gulf. Oil spills can soak in and make wood toxic.

Ok, I have a stream and a lake on my property. I’ll go look today, and post pictures of any I find.

It’ll give me a chance to get outside.