Driftwood From A Creek?

[TammyLiz]

I was visiting my mom yesterday and while my daughter was throwing stones into a creek near a beaver dam, I poked around looking for interesting wood for my tank. I found a few pieces that looked interesting and brought them back with me just in case they are usable. Thought I'd see if anyone has ever done this before. There is one piece that looks like it has been in the water forever (shaped by the water) but it hasn't rotted so I thought it might be a good candidate. But there are a couple places on it where it seems a little soft and I can pick pieces of it off. Do you think it'll rot in the tank? Is there anything I can do to it to try to harden it up? Bake it? Boil it? I would have to boil one end at a time because its too long for any of my pots. Scrub it? Pick off the parts I can and stick the rest in the tank? I have no idea how much of it I would be picking off. It could be quite a bit. And this piece had moss growing on it. There was another piece that was dry but such a strange shape...I can't tell if the shape was made by bugs or water. Or bugs in water. So how can you tell if its driftwood?

 

[riverman444]

Does it smell like mushrooms? If so, I wouldn't use it.

Does this creek wind through farmland?

Driftwood, well, most around where I live, is usually a whitish-gray in color. I scavenge for wood too and never take any that have moss or smell like mushrooms as that is a sign of rot.

However, I am no expert.......just my 2 cents.

 

[TammyLiz]

Well, by now it has dried out. I didn't bother to smell it while it was wet. It looks whitish grey now that it is dry, but was darker while it was wet. The nicest looking piece did have moss growing on it, on the part that I was saying I could flake off when I picked at it. I guess maybe it is rotting. Oh, well. A little dissappointing but I'll get over it. Thanks for the input. I think you're probably right.