# anybody make homemade driftwood?



## Shawnboy

After this winters icestorms I have a whole bunch of downed trees, roots and all. I've seen some root sections that would look extremely nice (IMO) in a tank. 

My question is, "if I were able to cut a chunk to fit my tank, would kiln drying and then soaking it again, be enough to prep for my tank?"

what have you guys done? what worked and what didn't? I live in New England so leaving it out for the sun to cure isn't going to get the job done.


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## crystalview

What type of trees? Is the wood fresh green?


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## Shawnboy

All types, maple, apple, pine, birch, soft and hard wood. they were green when they fell. Rock maple etc... and aromatic woods (I know better than to try those)

I want to wash a root section off, cut a chunk of burl, skin it if I have to, kiln dry and try it. but I don't want to kill everything in my tank. 

Is this feasable, realistic or am I dreaming again?


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## ddavila06

there is an article in the GWAPA site about it, here: http://gwapa.org/wordpress/2009/01/january-2009-meeting/#more-366 have fun!


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## Shawnboy

Thanks, I will check it out.


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## Shawnboy

somehow I ended up finding this page, this is what I would like the finished product to look like. It looks good, is priced right, and will save me a major headache. Anybody ever put grapewood in a tank?

http://www.nettletonhollow.com/grapewood.html


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## crystalview

If not coated with polyurethane (flat) It will rot and get fungus fairly fast (IMO). It is also buoyant and may need screwed or glued down. Manzanita grows in many states It last longer can be buoyant but doesn't have as many problems as grapewood.


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## Shawnboy

Anybody have any other ideas? To get a similar look?


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## Shawnboy

crystalview said:


> If not coated with polyurethane (flat) It will rot and get fungus fairly fast (IMO). It is also buoyant and may need screwed or glued down. Manzanita grows in many states It last longer can be buoyant but doesn't have as many problems as grapewood.


After rereading this, I never thought of coating anything with flat poly to put in a tank. I know I will have to wait for it to dry, cure and out gas b4 putting it in the tank. any other advice?

As of right now over 100 people have looked at this post, I am looking for input from ALL.

Anybody know if I could kiln dry green wood and have it work?


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## crystalview

I would think that kiln dried wood would work but I would think you would have to soak it or glue it. depending on the type of wood used. The kiln dried lumber is much lighter. Are you talking about putting it in a pottery kiln? I wonder if kiln drying would separate the wood fiber some That does sound interesting. 
Can you watch or check the wood while drying? I know that the wood can scorch when to hot too fast like in an oven or microwave. Depending on the wood you use I bet the wood would still leech tannins and again may need soaked.
If you use poly on the grapevine (I use marine type), I would also use the spray can version, so I could get all those nooks and crannies.
What you are proposing sounds neat, but a lot of work!


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## Shawnboy

It would probably be the roots from a rock or swamp maple unless I could find a harder wood.


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## crystalview

Take pics so we can see the process. Thanks
I love roots in aquariums.


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## freshyleif

I have put some pieces of manzanita in a bucket for about two weeks and changed the water a couple of times. and then put it into one of my tanks and it was fine. I had less leaching from it than from the root wood I bought at my LFS. I started with dead and naturally dried wood so I have no input about how to dry your wood out but good luck.


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## crystalview

Yeah manzanita is one of the better woods to not leech. I don't know about maple though


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## Shawnboy

If I find some manzita at a local store I think I will try that first. I know I would hate to go through all the hassle only to find I don't like the look or have it pollute my tank.

On a side note if I do find a nice chunk of roots to work with, I know somebody that can sand (bead)blast it. and I will try a local logging yard that has a kiln to see what they can do for me. I'll stick it in an old cooler with water afterwards to see how much leeching happens over the summer.

Then again I may open a beer, kick back and enjoy what I have already.


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## veedubdrouin

I have cut, dried, powerwashed and then soaked Manzanita for my tanks with great success. They have the same gnarled look of grapewood, if you pick the right pieces and the burgundy color looks great.

I have also found hardwood lying around the backyard that works in my tank. I just ran it through the dishwasher (no soap) a few times then soaked it until it lost it's bouyancy. I also checked the pH every few days for two weeks just because I have no idea what kind of wood it is. It's been in there a year now and is so covered in plants that I can't see it anymore.


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## crystalview

I would still play with the maple. Roots are so cool. Even if you cut it to what you like and leave it in the sun this summer. That does not cost anything. Soaking in a trash can is not so bad either. If your tank shows some brown water from the tannins use charcoal to remove the brown from the water. If you don't like the piece you can always sell or trade it on Craigslist.


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## Shawnboy

When and if I find the piece that I want, I will take photos etc... of the process that I end up using. I am pretty sure that if I do this, I will beadblast, kiln dry, and soak prior to putting in my tank.

Thanks


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## catfishbi

I think most wood can be make as drift wood as long as you soak it.


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## rodder4hire

I've collected hardwoods and boiled them then put them straight in the tank with little to no leaching - I like the dishwasher idea for larger pieces - I may have to go get some more to try it...


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## crystalview

I was just at Tom Barr's house looking at his wood pile. I told him about your idea of kiln drying the wood and he said that it's not a good idea the wood dries out to fast and can get fiberous looking and can burn. He said throw it in the sun wire brush it to clean, then in a barrel to soak.

As an added note: I saw so many types of wood at Tom's house That he has collected all over the country. I went away with new idea's myself, It was fun! I am going to buy raw cork from him for the new tank.


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## Darksome

A while back I had the idea to go out and collect myself some good branches...I found a local oak tree at a park and I just collected the dead branches on the ground...I went home soaked them, washed them thoroughly and strip the bark off, I then put them inside a ten gallon tank with boiling hot water and let it sit over night, I did this every other day...changing 50% of the water with hot water...after about two weeks the wood was waterlogged and most of the tannins were leeched...some of the branches were so soft that I had to throw them out and only keep the harder ones...I decided to put them in my 5 gallon betta bowl...I tied all the branches from the end and inverted it making it look like roots...it looks natural...one thing though, at first fungus started growing on the wood...I thought it was a big mistake but with time the fungus disappeared...this happens with a lot of driftwood though. Just try out whatever works out for you.


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## intothenew

I have never bought a piece of wood, it would be like.......well like buying air. As has been said, I pressure wash it and then subject it to the Hillbilly Root Sterilizer. Prepare yourself with a couple of adult beverages while you are feeding some dry oak to this, in the mud room well removed from the Hangin' Judge.










Have an appropriately sized wash tub on top filled with your collection, and bathed in water. Boil for two hours, or until the beer runs out, whichever comes last. Soak in water for another week, changing the water every day.

You will get fungus even after this excercise, but don't fret, the snails will love you for it. Purigen will handle the rest of the tannins.

I breathed a sigh on the dishwasher idea, that would be nice, but Martha would deduct way too many points for me to use that one.


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## Diana K

I have used _Albizzia julibrissin_ roots in some tanks. 
The tree was cut down in the mid summer, and it sat on my driveway for a year and a half. It has now been in the tank for about half a year, and no problems, from my point of view. 
Aging out in the weather can remove toxins from some wood, but I would not trust this too far. 
The bark sort of split and curled in places, but this just made a bit of a cave that my BN Pleco likes. 
This wood seems very low in tannins, and the only soaking it got was in the tank. Yes it took a while to sink. I did not really scrub it too much, just enough to get the dirt off. There were some small roots that were sort of soft by the end of the month, so I trimmed those off.

I have also used oak bark. This has tannins like you would no believe! The tank was as deeply colored as red wine. I could not see into the tank. I did a lot of water changes over about a month before I felt it was OK to add fish. Water is a lot cheaper than activated carbon to remove tannins. 
Now I soak the bark by tossing it in the pond. (The goldfish have never said anything about this)

I have a few small pieces of manzanita in one tank. It had been used before, so I never saw anything leaching out of it.

Yes, Tom has an great collection of wood at his place!


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## RestlessCrow

Darksome said:


> A while back I had the idea to go out and collect myself some good branches...I found a local oak tree at a park and I just collected the dead branches on the ground...I went home soaked them, washed them thoroughly and strip the bark off, I then put them inside a ten gallon tank with boiling hot water and let it sit over night, I did this every other day...changing 50% of the water with hot water...after about two weeks the wood was waterlogged and most of the tannins were leeched...some of the branches were so soft that I had to throw them out and only keep the harder ones...I decided to put them in my 5 gallon betta bowl...I tied all the branches from the end and inverted it making it look like roots...it looks natural...one thing though, at first fungus started growing on the wood...I thought it was a big mistake but with time the fungus disappeared...this happens with a lot of driftwood though. Just try out whatever works out for you.


Fungus Amungus.... I am NOT kidding when I tell ya this story. I used to have turtles in a 55G and I cut a piece of wood to fit in on a diagonal to give the turtles something to climb out of the water.

Would you believe that log spit out a crop of Sheetake Mushrooms once a month? (I had to spell the name of the mushrooms wrong because the forum blocked it out. LOL) My buddy who is an avid mushroom hunter came over the house one day and happened to glance at the tank. I believe his comment was something to the effect of "Are you farking kidding me?" He went right over, picked some and we sauteed them in butter right there and then.


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