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wild collected driftwood?

Started by Guest_phatfish_* , Sep 24 2009 01:07 PM

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11 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_phatfish_*

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Posted 24 September 2009 - 01:07 PM

Hay i am going to run to the river in a minute to grab a piece that i want to use.
How do i cure it and dos any onelse use it?

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#2 Guest_natureman187_*

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Posted 24 September 2009 - 01:10 PM

Spray the gunk off with a hose and drop it in!

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#3 Guest_phatfish_*

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Posted 24 September 2009 - 01:58 PM

I pluked this right from the river do not have a tank up for it yet so i kinda want to dry it i think i will through it in the oven for 30 min at 500?

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#4 Guest_andyavram_*

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Posted 24 September 2009 - 02:36 PM

ALl of mine went directly from river to the tank, I didn't even wash the mud off it.
I have some new stuff that has been sitting out all summer, but I collected it before the tank was ready, otherwise I would have just dropped it in.

Andy

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#5 Guest_phatfish_*

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Posted 24 September 2009 - 02:37 PM

Cool than i will just finish washing it and set it aside.

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#6 Guest_sumthinsfishy_*

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Posted 24 September 2009 - 03:27 PM

I always just drop the driftwood right in my tanks, because often times there are small organisms or plants growing on them and my fish like to pick those off.

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#7 Guest_AtomFullerene_*

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Posted 02 October 2009 - 09:21 AM

I rinsed mine off, soaked it for a while, and then dropped it in, but honestly, I think I could have just stuck it in quite easily. One thing to note: when you drop a piece of would in your tank, it will most likely float! If you bake it (as people who are, in my opinion, too concerned about parasites do) then it will definitely float. So keep in mind you may need some way to tie it down in your tank. Mine's zip tied to a piece of slate, which is buried in the sand. But this is an ungainly hack.

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#8 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 02 October 2009 - 01:29 PM

It's really funny comparing the responses here to the responses to similar questions on tropical fish forums. Those fishkeepers are deathly afraid of the outdoors and would insist any driftwood should be boiled, baked, bleached, and sandblasted prior to being added to a tank. Unless it came from a store, in which case it's perfectly all right (because a store wouldn't sell you anything contaminated, right?).

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#9 Guest_schambers_*

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Posted 02 October 2009 - 03:25 PM

I soak wood to waterlog it before I try to put it in. Sometimes I will boil a new piece of wood to get excess tannins out of it. Don't use someone's good cookware to do this without permission! Get an old pot from a yard sale or thrift store and save your neck! Boiling doesn't stink as much as baking. All you have to do is let it cool and you can put it in. I buy my wood from my LFS because I love the nice heavy pieces they sell. If I collected my own, I might rinse it off if it's muddy, otherwise I'd just put it in. If it had critters on it, all the better!

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#10 Guest_sumthinsfishy_*

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Posted 02 October 2009 - 04:40 PM

I would buy mine from the lfs, but it's usually quite expensive, so I just search around in rivers or lakes for some pieces that are already waterlogged.

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#11 Guest_Amazon_*

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Posted 02 October 2009 - 06:33 PM

I just drop it in. It helps by adding food for fish not hurts.

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#12 Guest_AtomFullerene_*

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Posted 05 October 2009 - 08:46 PM

Newt, you are so right. I noticed the same thing. The more I've kept fish, the more convinced I've become that sterilizing everything and keeping out all organisms that aren't fish is unnecessary and possibly harmful...or at least causes you to miss out. I mean, fish in the wild don't swim around sterilized branches and critter-free nursery grown (or plastic) plants.