Driftwood

[superjalami30]

I went to a local lake today looking for some driftwood.
Before I went out I did some research and had most of my questions answered.

One I have left thats unanserwed is as follows:

How can you tell the difference between hardwood and softwood when it's been sitting on the edge of lake for who knows how long?
Most of what I got today consists of small rootlike structures and sticks.

I'm currently boiling it, and will bake it in the oven shortly.

Thanks.

 

[Themuleous]

Unless its got bark, there isn't any real way to tell the difference, unless you're someone who can distinguish the different grains of different woods, but I guess not if you're asking this question!

As a general guide if the woods been sitting in a lake for many months prior to you finding it, most if not all of the resin and other 'liquid' chemicals will already have leached out of it, thats why sea drift wood is generally very good, cos its been in the sea for month if not years.

Boiling it will help kill of any potential nasty living things. If you notice you're getting an oil film on the waters surface when you boil then its probably a soft wood and best avoided.

Other than that difficult to tell, but I personally would only use pieces that look like they've been in the water for a while or that I can positively ID to a type thats ok for tanks.

Sam

 

[superjalami30]

Thanks Sam.

I work in a sawmill, and we run soft and hardwoods!!!

Gimme' a board and I can tell you the type od wood it is any day, or a log for that matter.
But a peice of root or a twig thats been in the water or the waters edge for who knows how long is pretty hard to tell.
I took peices that actually are quite brital so I know they're good for the tank.
I boiled the peices for 4 hours lastnight, then baked them at 200 Degrees in the oven for another 4 hours.
They came out looking nice, next I need to scrub em down a bit with a scrub brush just to get some of the dirt and bark thats left on them off.

 

[Themuleous]

Oh right, I see. Well it sounds like the stuff you've got should be fine.

And I take back what I said about you not being able to tell the difference between types of wood, evidently you can!

Sam

 

[superjalami30]

LOL
Well, when it's a piece of lumber anyways.

I tried putting a piece in a tank this morning but it floats still...haha.

Oh well, boiling for 4 hours and baking for four hours wasnt the right way to go, I'll soak it for a few days and see what happens.

Thanks Themuleous!

 

[madmom]

Try putting a large rock on the wood when you soak it to hold it down. It may need to soak for a week or more. I use the thumbnail test for softwood. If my thumbnail goes into the wood easily it's probably softwood.

 

[superjalami30]

Thanks madmom!
I actually just got back from the bucket I have the wood in....I was putting some weight on the wood to keep it submerged.

Either way, the wood I have looks really good, should look very natrual once it's in my tank.

 

[madmom]

Good luck. I have a few myself in various stages. My kids got hooked on collecting them when we go to the river.

 

[superjalami30]

Ok, so softwood is bad.........what about softwood thats been submerged/emerged for years?
I found some really nice peices of root today, but I'm pretty sure it's all softwood as I found it close to a softwood sawmill that's right on lake superior here where I live.
It's been submereged and then emerged for years I would presume since the water level where I found it is always up and down.

I wonder if all the sap and junk would be completely leached out?

 

[Themuleous]

If its been years then it's probably be ok by now. But as always if in doubt leave it out.

Sam

 

[superjalami30]

I was talking to a reputable dealer here where I live and basically he said that there are very few types of wood that would be harmful in an aquarium, especially driftwood.
Asides from pollution anyways.

As for resins....if the wood appears to be old, and has obviously been in the water for quite some time there would be little resin left in the wood.
Even if there was resin it wouldnt matter, as long as you do regular water changes on a weekly basis, you would be removing the resins from the water long before they had time to build up and do any harm anyways.

He runs his Fish Store as well as his buisness of setting up and maintaining his clients tanks (which he has quite a few) on a daily/weekly basis.
He offers residential cleaning as well as "fish sitting" services where a client can transport his or her fish to his store where he will take care of them, or he will visit your home on a daily basis to watch your tanks while your away.
His service and selection are number one here where I live, and his prices are 30%-50% cheaper than the big store chains here like "superpet", "lucky pet" and three other local pet stores.
He specializes in freshwater plants, substrates, C02 set ups etc etc etc.

He's also a mod at plant geeks which he had a part of starting.

At the moment he is currently working on a 1300 gallon tank for a client in town.

I just had to tell ya about him, he's my best friend.

 

[plantbrain]

The denser the wood, the better.
The more is sinks and the less rot, the better, any rot, soft stuff should be trimmed off.

Desert woods are quite good actually and a lot of the wood sold is really desert wood, mopani wood etc, Manzanita etc.

Pines tend to be quite soft and float.
Redwood roots work well.
Oak works well if you find hard pieces of long downed trees.
Most hard woods etc.

Soaking good will help.
I've collected wood for about 25 years.
The beach is one of the worst places ironically.
Unless you like to use slate bottoms.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[superjalami30]

Thanks plantbrain.
Most of the stuff I found yesterday will float, I have it sinking in buckets atm.
It's funny you mention slate because I have a tonne of it I used to use in a crayfish tank.
I may be pulling it outta storage sooner than I thought.
I have quite a bit of mopani and malaysian driftwood spread throughout my tanks, and I like it, but you cant find pieces that are more "twiggy" around here, they all seem to be big and bulky with some slight interesting curves and twists.
I'd like to achieve that "branch look"

Will post pics if and when I get the wood to stay at the bottom.

BtwPlantbrain, I seen your thread about the behemth tank, absolutly amazing!
I do consider you and others I know doing that type of work to be some of the luckiest people in the world.