Im planning a new aquarium build and i was just wondering where would be the best place to get driftwood? I live near a lake so I could definitely get some pretty cool pieces from there but would i need to clean them with any certain type of chemical?

No chemicals, make sure it's not "rotting". Boil it for 3 hours to make sure all the bugs and harmful stuff is killed in the wood.

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100G->African Cichlids:Kribensis-2,Bumblebee-2,Red Zebra-2,Elec. Yel. Labi.-2, Acei-2, Elec. Blu. Johanni-2,Peacocks-2 / Community: Australian Rainbow-3,Turquoise Rainbow-4,Dalmatian Mollies-2,white molly-1,Dojo Loaches-1/Cleaners:Chinese Algea Eaters-5/Murderers: Dinosaur Bichir-1And lots of other tanks,2-Gourims,6-Rams,1-Arrowanna,6-FW Flounder,1-Farlowella CF, 1-Spiney Eel

Oh ok, any thoughts on how i might be able to clean larger pieces though? The tank is probably gonna be anywhere from 120-200 gallons and im planning on having 1-2 large driftwood pieces and i dont really have anything to boil them in that i can think of..

Not sure I've had pieces to big to boil but nothing of size for 120-200G tank.

If you have a bathtub that's unused, you can weight them down and toss them in the tub with boiling hot and hot water from the tap.

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100G->African Cichlids:Kribensis-2,Bumblebee-2,Red Zebra-2,Elec. Yel. Labi.-2, Acei-2, Elec. Blu. Johanni-2,Peacocks-2 / Community: Australian Rainbow-3,Turquoise Rainbow-4,Dalmatian Mollies-2,white molly-1,Dojo Loaches-1/Cleaners:Chinese Algea Eaters-5/Murderers: Dinosaur Bichir-1And lots of other tanks,2-Gourims,6-Rams,1-Arrowanna,6-FW Flounder,1-Farlowella CF, 1-Spiney Eel

Hello Thacker. Good choice to get your tank decorations at the local river beds. I live in Northern Colorado and have a couple of rivers very close and have gotten most of the driftwood I have in my larger tanks from these areas. The pieces are far better than anything you'll get at the LFS and the price is great, FREE. Another bonus is the pieces you find won't leach the tannins that turn your tank water brown.

I've never done anything other than rinse the pieces off with a garden hose and let them dry outside for a few hours in the sun. You'll need to pick up some good sized rocks at the river bed too, to weigh down the wood. The wood is generally very dry and floats. But, you can put together some very nice tank decorations.

A very good opporunity to be creative, go for it!

BBradbury

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Thanks! I had looked before online for large pieces of driftwood and some prices are pretty extreme for what they are. I live in TN next to a large lake and there is always new exotic looking pieces of wood coming ashore. I just wanted to make sure that it wouldnt hurt the fish. Ive also been planning on going to get some rocks from a creek on my uncles farm. I like the look of the smooth colorful stones up there :D

When I clean large pieces I usually take them to a car was and use the power rinse on them first to help remove any loose particles and bark off them, then take home and rinse good with the water hose.

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Susan, thats's an awesome idea!

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100G->African Cichlids:Kribensis-2,Bumblebee-2,Red Zebra-2,Elec. Yel. Labi.-2, Acei-2, Elec. Blu. Johanni-2,Peacocks-2 / Community: Australian Rainbow-3,Turquoise Rainbow-4,Dalmatian Mollies-2,white molly-1,Dojo Loaches-1/Cleaners:Chinese Algea Eaters-5/Murderers: Dinosaur Bichir-1And lots of other tanks,2-Gourims,6-Rams,1-Arrowanna,6-FW Flounder,1-Farlowella CF, 1-Spiney Eel

Thacker. A thought occured to me about the driftwood. Lake driftwood is different than river driftwood as far as bugs and such. In Colorado, it's so dry and sometimes cold, that nothing can live on the wood for very long. In your humidity, that might not be true. I don't believe boiling is necessary and would be a problem with large pieces. To be on the safe side, it wouldn't hurt to let the pieces you get from the lake sit out in the sun for several days, to kill any bacteria that could cause a tank problem.

BBradbury

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I use a 55 gal barrel to boil large things. Just make a circle with cinder blocks, fill with water, put wood under and light on fire. It helps to have a lid but not needed.

i like mikes idea, wish i had thought about it, all i did was use the bathtub for several days, water bill went up for it was worth it

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These are all great ideas! Im going to go look for a few pieces hopefully sometime this week as soon as it stops raining lol.

I would just be wary of all the tannins being released into the tank (I've never used my own driftwood before, so I'm going off of what I know already)... if you're not worried about perfectly-clear water, though, I think the driftwood would be a fantastic idea! I'd let it sit in the sun for a few days like BBradbury said... after that, I'd let it soak in water to rehydrate and minimize the initial floating before putting it in the tank. I'd think it'd be great if you put up some photos and show us how it turns out =]

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