wood

[Patrice]

hi,
every time I want to use wood in a tank, I have that same problem: they sell that same price as gold.
in the other hand, it's shocking to pay for this while I live in the bush. but, tree here are just pine tree and I have been told to avoid those in a fish tank cause they releace stuff that harm the fish.
So now I am looking for someting to solve my problem without buying it. I was looking at some tank (like the huge one Tom showed us) and I cant belive someone would pay for a 4 foot branch (at the price I pay for that) and I never seen store that deals that.

So what's the trick?
I thought about using some sort of coating on the woods I get from the bush but I cant find any coating that is certified to be "full proof" and do not harm fish.

is there someone that would have an idea to solve that problem?

thx

Pat

 

[reiverix]

Some people just live in ideal locations to find driftwood. Others . . . don't. There are a number of online distributors so try searching around. I myself have never shopped for wood online, but for brancy wood, I've heard good things about manzanita.com

ADG also sells a very attractive wood called old black.

Well, wood is definitely one of those expensive materials for the most part, and with a lot of other expenses of aquascaping, there's only so much you can do about it.

 

[Patrice]

I thought about buying on line. the problem is the shipping fees uphere. they charge by weight and size so it's realy not cheap. I have estimate that It would cost me about $1000 to get enough wood to make a amazonian biotop in the 120g. that's way to mutch!

 

[richardsantink]

I thought about buying on line. the problem is the shipping fees uphere. they charge by weight and size so it's realy not cheap. I have estimate that It would cost me about $1000 to get enough wood to make a amazonian biotop in the 120g. that's way to mutch!

Where are you located?


Cheers,

Richard

 

[aquabillpers]

In an earlier thread people discussed the pros and cons of having pirate chests and similar unnatural decorations in planted aquariums.

I'm not too keen on that, but if i could find good quality ceramic or plastic "driftwood" I would buy it. Not only is the real stuff too expensive but the idea of having 20 pounds of slowly rotting organic matter in my tanks is not appealing. And eventually much of the driftwood becomes hidden by the plants anyway.

Perhaps you can find a good source, If you can, please let me know.

Bill

 

[Patrice]

Where are you located?


Cheers,

Richard

i'me in Yellowknife, Canada. it north of 60

maybe fake woods could do yeah. I will not put any plant in that tank beacause there is to mutch oscar in it and I dont think plants will appreciate. thats why I thought about a amazonian style with only driftwood.

 

[Tom Barr]

Go out to a lake, stream, etc and look for sunken wood, submerged, old dead hardened wood.

You have plenty in your area actually that you can use.
Look for old uprooted roots etc.

No soft "air wood", harder and denser the better, when in Rome, eat pizza.

Make do with what you have there.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Patrice]

i'me still looking after ways to get cheap woods. I tried to find a coating that could be put on the woods but it's expensive and i found nothing in canada.

I have few roots found in the bush and lakes this summer. To be sure they are safe to use, I think I should put them in water and test the water after few weak. could you tell me what i should test? is there something that my test would not show?

Also, a friend told me to cook these wood to make the resin evaporate. What do you think about that idea? is it thrue?

Thx for your help.

 

[Tom Barr]

Boiling wood is good also.
If you soak the wood for a few weeks prior, it's fine.
As long as it's dense and not soft and rotting.

Like a person's head, the denser, the better for driftwood.

I think you should look along streams for nice roots and along washout areas in river beds. There's a lot of water level changes there where you live and a lot of trees at lower elevations, I lived in Kenai AK for awhile, son lives there and know the Latitude.

Rergards,
Tom Barr

 

[Patrice]

thx
but once I have find a wood I think it's safe and it has soak for few weak (or boilled), is there ways to make sure it is safe? It is a little late to find woods beacause it's winter now. I just want to be sure those wood I have will not kill fish. any test to do?