Choosing the Right Driftwood

Yeah that thing looks pretty wicked. I am going to search the beach and also when I go up to the river in a few months I should be able to find some good stuff. If I do I will bring a bunch back and see if anyone on the forum can make use of it.

I noticed aquariumdriftwood.com has plant assortment packages for setting up a new tank. Has anyone ordered plants from them before?

Click to expand...

I have. that's where all the plants in my 75 came from. I was really impressed with them. Fast shipping and great customer service. A question I had was answered by email within the day. If I was going for another big plant order they are who I would order from.

Sounds great! Thanks for the info. I may end up ordering one of their packages. I know its good to start a tank off with a lot of plants right away, then worry about changing it up later.

I go to my local driftwood shop, pick any mangrove root that fits my tank deminsions, and put it in there while keeping the rule of thirds in mind. Then i put the plants around the wood. I think this is how amano does things. Its much easier to design around the wood than to find the perfect peice of wood for your tank. Of course i am no AGA or ADA winner.

I wish I had a local driftwood shop! The selection here is not very good at all.

Took me five years to realize it existed. Now i want to buy tanks just to use more cool driftwood!

Sir_BlackhOle, if you order stuff from aquariumdriftwood.com, I would only get there centerpiece stuff. I've ordered other pieces from them and the pieces of wood don't have much character. I order the branchy centerpieces, and if I remember correctly one size up from the tanks I have(to give a fuller driftwood to the tank size). The pictures on their website are horrible, they need to fix that.

Once I get a piece that is close to what I want size wise, and if it is a stump, branchy or in-between piece, the hard part kicks in. I've made the mistake of trying to accomplish a style, such as a triangle style and the driftwood did not look natural. I think the key is the let they driftwood rest in maybe an empty tank, and take some pictures of the way the driftwood sits in the tank and compare it to a picture with the driftwood facing the other way. With multiple pieces things probably get more complicated.

Sounds like a good idea!

Would Redwood roots work? I have a few of these, they are pretty big, but I may be able to find some way to use em.


What is a driftwood shp? What part of the yellow pages would that be in(Im assuming either a lumberyard or a craft store type thing)?

I'm not sure, i think i am in a lucky situation the shop is family owned by this guy who likes making decorations out of wood. I had been looking for a driftwood place for awhile and my friend told me about this one. I found this place called driftwood cleaners... i thought it would be what i wanted but it turned out to be a laundramat.

Does anyone know where to collect branchy pieces of driftwood(or, where these pieces generally end up)? All I find are straight ones. Not much to them. Do all the branchy ones break up before they become driftwood or what?

I think most of the time they are roots of trees. That could be why they are so hard to find.

I meant as in...

A root or limb falls into the water, where would a branchy piece msot likely end up? Im thinking they are probably trapped in those hughe mounds of branches inand over some small streams, or perhaps lodged in the rocks besade lakes. After all, if any branchy ones were on the beach, anybody would be sure to snatch them up. I only have one curious little piece that would count as that, but it is a little to curious to fit.

Yikes... lol

No kidding! That's robbery at that price, wow!

Ken, most of the wood you buy on slate bases has come from a large lake in Maine near Sugarloaf Mtn. I've seen people up there with Uhauls full of gorgeous roots. It may be worth your money to take a weekend to get a 12 footer full of wood. It would be about a 10 hr drive one way for you.

Best,
Phil