Driftwood Issue - Page 2 - DIY Aquarium Projects

davemonkey · 07-19-2008, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zer0zax

I used freshly cut tree roots for my old paludarium, but these roots were sticking out of a river bank and submerged. I just rinsed them off well and made sure that at least 6" of the top of the roots were out of the water. No fouling or mess, The roots started putting out leaves above the waterline and grew quick!

How cool is that!? The root actually sent up shoots?! (As a horticulturalist I find that fascinating.) What species was it?

-Dave

mulita · 07-19-2008, 06:40 AM

That's a very nice idea! I bet if you can get it done your aquascape is going to look great!

If you are going to try coating with Polyurethane it may work, I would also suggest trying Polyacrilic as this is also water resistant (Mate, No gloss to try to keep natural look), however it would be a better idea try to find something similar close to a river as the wood really needs to be exposed to weather for long time, and even do it needs to be treated anyway as it will leach in some degree.

I have use dry wood collected in the desert with success. I treated it the same with a bleach/Water solution for several days (about two weeks or more) rinsing and bleaching again several times and finally long freshwater rinsing with dechlorinator. this method has also work for me with initially stinky pieces of wood (It takes longer but It worked for me in a piece that I really like so I made it work

, I am really stubborn and have time

)

Whatever you do, try it separately in your tank, don't add fish or plants until you know for sure that the driftwood is not leaching, decomposing or altering in anyway your water chemistry.

zer0zax · 07-19-2008, 11:59 PM

I wish I knew what species of tree it was, all I remember was it had leaves and half of the roots were growing in the riverbed! Cypress roots would be perfect for this, when I set up my big tank I want to try those.

When I used the roots I didn't know much about planted aquariums or how bad decomposing stuff in the water can be! I just wanted a natural root look and had no idea the roots would live! If they died things would have got ugly quick.

Just as everyone else has said, try prospective roots or driftwood in something other than your aquarium. A 5 gallon bucket will work perfectly for testing roots, just use a swing-arm desktop lamp, put roots in the bucket with the tops out and tape the "trunk" above the waterline to the sides of the bucket. Throw in a betta to provide fertilizer and call it a day. If you have large pieces of wood a plastic trashcan or plastic kiddie pool would work well, just net out mosquito larva before they get the best of you!

patonzon · 07-21-2008, 05:46 AM

Thanks a lot for you comments guys. Here is an update on my case:

I coated some of the roots with varnish (it's semi-gloss, didn't have any matte) and they look good. I'm going to put them in a bucket and see what happens.

On Saturday I went to a small river close to the city, collected a LOT of driftwood and took them home. I found different types of wood, some still had the bark, some didn't, a few don't float but most of them still do, some are roots, some are branches; but all of them where in the water when I picked them up. I really enjoyed the experience.

Once I got them home I laid them on the floor to select the pieces that would fit best my aquarium. I forgot to mention this, but I'm building a paludarium as well as a normal aquarium, so i need some wood for each. I ended up selecting a beautiful piece of root for the aquarium just for it's great looks and because it fits perfectly in the tank. The downsides of this one is that it still has all of the bark and it's very light, so it floats. It even seems like it wasn't in the water, maybe it only had a few days there. Anyway, I cut it to give it shape, cleaned it a little bit with a brush, filled the tank with water (it's brand new, so I still don't have anything in it) and a little bleach, then I submerged it with the help of some weights. I did this last night and this morning the water was still very clear. I'm going to wait and see what happens. I hope in a few days I can remove the bark and that it starts to sink on itself. I really want to use this piece. I might be able to get a big pot to boil it to speed up the process.

For my paludarium I selected a branch with great ramifications. This one has almost no bark left, it weighs a little more but doesn’t sink. I put it in the tank with the other one. I’m not sure about using it because I’m not really convinced it’s what I have in mind for my layout, but I’m going to treat it anyway just in case.

I might go to the LFS (see, I’m learning already

) to see if they have a piece of driftwood I really like, and maybe I’ll return to the river next Saturday to look for some more wood.

What do you guys think about the piece for my aquarium, do you think I can make it work? If it helps I could upload some pictures.

Thanks again.

zer0zax · 07-21-2008, 09:37 PM

Your doing it good! I never did the bleach treatment myself, just make sure to soak it well in clean water for awhile afterwards. If the water becomes heavily stained with tannins (tea color) than change out the water, this will speed up the process a little bit.

Be patient, some of the wood will sink in a week and some took me a month to sink, for difficult pieces just weigh them down with a rock.

Hopefully your favorite pieces will work out! The only real way to tell if they will is by doing what your doing, I always get twice the amount of driftwood I think I might need because some of it won't work out. To tell the truth I always grab any cool driftwood I find! I take it all. I am a driftwood junkie! There....its out.. sorry for being longwinded!

PS: When you start finding the good stuff by the river and compare it to the prices the petstores sell, you will be shocked!

patonzon · 07-22-2008, 05:12 AM

Hi, my name is Patonzon and I'm a driftwood adict. I understand you perfectly zerOzax, I just did it once and now I can't wait to do it again the next weekend.

It's been two days of soaking the wood and the water remains very clear, I can barely notice a sutil yelowish color ¿How long it takes for the tanins to start leaching out? I just wish I had a big enough pot to boil that piece.

mulita · 07-22-2008, 06:38 AM

How long it will take to leach out it certainly depend of the driftwood itself, you have to bleach treat them as much as needed until it stop leaching, changing the water speed up the process as ZerOzax said. Once tannins gives up, keep them in the solution for a couple days, rinse them, put them in water again and then leave it there for a week, do an ammonia test, if you got some reading, take the driftwood and smell it, if it stink it is the source of the ammonia, you may bleach treated again but chances are that this is not going to work, you may try it as it can give up an work.

As you said, this process is fun in all its phases and actually will make you proud once you finish up with a nice scape, and then you ending up adding a hobby to the hobby