# Driftwood Sources?



## Moo (Apr 27, 2006)

I know this has been posted atleast a million times, I seem to have a hard time finding the post though.
Newho,
Can you guys post links to drift wood websites?
I've posted pics and links to pics of what I'm lookin for in driftwood.
Mabey you could post suggest for types?
I just want something that takes up a large portion of the left side of my 58 gal (36.5x18.5x20) and is really branchy with a good base.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=333&c=1

any help?

- i tried the ADG shop..but couldn't find the link to their driftwood.


----------



## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Moo you can find driftwood the pricier driftwood from our sponsor ADG,

Or you can refer to floridadriftwood.com for some pieces

or you can refer to manzanita.com.

I only have experience using the last one, which happens to be the exact same wood in the tank you linked above. See My Experience here.

-John N.


----------



## xcooperx (Jun 24, 2006)

Nice wood  can i order a few pieces from them for my 29 Gal. or i need to buy a package.?


----------



## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

I ordered a aquarium package from Manzanita.com and i'm very thrilled with the pieces I got! They are amazing! ... the downside is you have to soak them for them to sink. It took me about a 1-2 weeks for my driftwood to sink. I recommend Manzanita for those branchy type pieces and ADA Black Wood if you want something thicker and darker.


----------



## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

Exoticfinds has some nice ones with pictures of the exact item and there's ebay as well


----------



## dstephens (Nov 30, 2005)

I just recently bought a box of ADA old Blackwood from Aqua Forest in San Francisco. I called George Lo, one of 2 brothers that owns the store, I think? Anyway, these guys could not have been more gracious and willing to help on the phone and by sending photos of what they had in stock via email. I have bought from Jeff at ADG before and they are fantastic to work with. I don't know if they have the old blackwood in stock or not. They were out for a while. Anyway, if you call these guys up, they will hook you up with the ADA wood. Darrell


----------



## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

ADA has brachy driftwood too....


----------



## heyman (Apr 4, 2005)

Yup , Ive ordered ADA black wood from both ADG and Aquaforest, they both provided excellent service with pics of thier wood selectionand prompt delivery esp. here in Hawaii. I think ADG is out of the wood. I guess for now youd have to check out Aquaforest for old blackwood.


----------



## xcooperx (Jun 24, 2006)

Stephen how much it cost you for the woods?


----------



## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

Cooper, if you know exactly what you want then let me know - I'm actually driving down to the manzanita.com location this Saturday to pick out some wood for my tank. If you have something specific in mind let me know and I'll try to pick it up.


----------



## xcooperx (Jun 24, 2006)

thanks carl i'll PM you some Pic later


----------



## Moo (Apr 27, 2006)

sounds..like it may be manzanita....but someone said before that to get a setup like that you have "glue" the pieces top a base?
is that very hard?


----------



## IUnknown (Feb 24, 2004)

Here are the prices from aquaforest,



> ADA driftwood pricing are as follow:
> 
> Small: $9.00 approx (5"~ 8")
> Medium: $18.00 approx (9"~12")
> ...


----------



## itchy201 (Aug 28, 2006)

Does aquaforest have a website?


----------



## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

They do, but is has been saying "Coming Soon" for the past year or so now...


----------



## itchy201 (Aug 28, 2006)

Does anybody happen to know if they will ship to NY? And if they do does anybody have thier phone number? I been looking for the ADA driftwood but i cant seem to find any local sellers.


----------



## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

Ebay has some excellent pieces as well.


----------



## itchy201 (Aug 28, 2006)

I wish I could visit ebay at the moment. My home computer is dead at the moment and work blocks ebay. I would use my sidekick to go to ebay but I dont trust the security on the sidekicks internet connection.


----------



## dstephens (Nov 30, 2005)

The email address for Aqua Forest is [email protected]
George and Steven Lo are the owners. If you send an email to them they will put together a quote with photos and pricing structure. Good Luck.


----------



## itchy201 (Aug 28, 2006)

Thanks for the info.


----------



## Moo (Apr 27, 2006)

what size do you guys think I should look for if im trying to achieve the look I posted? ...because I'm seeing that most DW only gets about 20"+/- a few.


----------



## Moo (Apr 27, 2006)

I still seem to be having a difficult time finding the driftwood link on the ADG site.


----------



## Moo (Apr 27, 2006)

Also how do you go about using the manzanita wood?
Obviously the tanks I listed did not recieve the drift wood like that, they had to "assemble" several pieces. But how do you do that without seeing where they are attached.....which brings me to a good point. How do you attach them?

I plan on planting on the wood a bit...but not much.


----------



## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

Here's a link to how I'm attaching mine together. I'm still waiting to see how the glue holds up under water though.


----------



## Moo (Apr 27, 2006)

So...essentially you find where you want to stick the pieces on a "base" then try to fit them as snugly as possible then drill and glue in dowels...is it really that easy?

For the manzanita I would need a large ?burl? and some branchy pieces correct?


----------



## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

I actually either clamped or hot glued the pieces together first so that they didn't move while I drilled them. Try to ge a drill bit that is just slightly larger than your dowel, like 1/64" or 1/32". That way it moves about easier and you don't break any of the driftwood trying to cram the dowel in. And try to use more than one dowel per piece, it gives you greater stability and more gluing area.

It really was that easy. I would say minus glue curing time it took me a total of maybe a half hour from start to finish.


----------



## Moo (Apr 27, 2006)

hmm...so I see the great flexability in "assembling" go get exactly what you want.
Sounds like manzanita is the way. heh. 
Which is more popular sandblasted or the natural kind?


----------



## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

You would want the sandblasted kind. Also, you can get burls with branchy pieces on them.

FWIW I just got back from my drive out to pick up my wood. Let me just says that Rich (manzanita.com) has some pieces that would be incredible in someones tank.

I need to soak the wood that I bought today, but I'll be posting photos once I get it in the tank. Keep an eye out for them.


----------



## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

I'm still torqued that I could make the trip with you, Carl.

For the others, sometimes the wood isn't even attached to other stuff (Just stuck in the substrate) or is only temporarily attached with whatever is at hand that won't affect water quality. This could be rubber bands, cotton thread, or whatever.

With these, of course, you will always risk disrupting things.


----------



## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

Just thought I'd share....

Here are the pieces that I picked up today:










Flipped to the other side:


----------



## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Great looking wood!


----------



## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

turbomkt said:


> Great looking wood!


Hey... that's the same thing my girlfriend said... I guess she likes my wood too!

[smilie=b:


----------



## Cassie (May 27, 2006)

it's very nice. how much did those pieces run, and how far was the drive? I'm thinking about getting some new pieces when I redo my tanks and I'm exploring the options


----------



## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

Cassie said:


> it's very nice. how much did those pieces run, and how far was the drive? I'm thinking about getting some new pieces when I redo my tanks and I'm exploring the options


The good news: the cost was only about $30, and the piece at the bottom right is actually an extra that I picked up just because it was nice and I thought I'd be able to find somebody else who wants it.

The bad news: the place is in Borrego Springs, CA. From Garden Grove that's 150mi... each way.


----------



## frozenoak (Jul 30, 2005)

That's a long drive. Did you have other buisness up there?


----------



## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

No...he just likes to drive! :twisted:


----------



## frozenoak (Jul 30, 2005)

Not to steal the thread but does anybody know where I can get some cedar to use as driftwood?


----------



## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

turbomkt said:


> No...he just likes to drive! :twisted:


Have free time, will travel!

For those that are interested I already intend to take another trip out there within the next few months for the purpose of bringing more of that wood this way. This may be a SCAPE fundraiser in the near future.


----------



## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Field trip!!!


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

That's a really good idea. Plant/wood auction as a fundraiser?


----------



## southpark (Oct 9, 2006)

cedar driftwood!

i just came across an excellent source of cedar driftwood this weekend

it turned out to be a local (5mi) source for me as well

Welcome to Texas Diftwood.com

his 888-299-7718 number works best and he's available during the day

is a retired sheriff who owns a ranch with a large number of cedar stumps

his field workers will strip and chop the stumps and bring them in, he then rolls them in a water/stone tumbler to strip the bark and clean the wood

he then cuts a flat base on one side of them and then sells them

he markets mostly to taxidermists and crafts

but his wood is useable as aquarium driftwood!

i recently purchased several pieces and his prices are quite good ($3.50 for a 5-14inch piece!)

it only needs to be soaked or boiled (to remove tannins)

and if you want, you can sun bleach it to give it a grayer, less brown look

so far i've boiled 2 small pieces for about 10 hours and they've sunk and released a lot of tannins

also of note, it is long dead wood, and should not rot further!

he does have a minimum 25$ purchase for shipping orders, but if you can't fill a order that large (i bought 35$ worth of wood, 3 small, 2 medium, and 1 large, the small pieces would be sufficient centerpieces for probably 10-20gal range, the medium pieces won't even fit in something smaller than a 40+ and the large i'm having difficulty fitting in my 50, and is probably more appropriately sized for 75 or larger)

if you can't fill a minimum order you can try and pm me, and i can see about picking up small pieces and shipping them out for you if i have time


----------



## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

Sorry if I throw a monkey wrench into your idea. But most softwoods *especially* pine and cedar are known to have toxins. AFRMA - Cedar & Pine Information Mind you this is for bedding of cages, but the fact still stands, they have toxins. Professional loggers are usually _required_ to wear respirators, for a reason. Cedar and pine that are in _big_ peices in your home, probably won't be a problem, for they have low surface area. I would think though that even a large peice submerged under water would leech out those toxins, over time. I'm not saying "texas driftwood" has is selling bad product, their peices are nice, but they are for taxedermy. Note that they make no claim that cedar should be used in aquaria. They are beutiful peices and I have to admit, that I just love the smell of cedar. These would make great art. But in my aquarium, sorry no.


----------

