[Newt]

Where do you guys get those nice branchy pieces of wood?

I would like to get some mopani or bogwood that is branchy.

 

[apistomaster]

I don't know where between here and there is as your location but I happen to live at the confluence of two major rivers, the Snake and Clearwater Rivers at the SE corner of WA on the border with Idaho. these rivers drain off of millions of acres of national Forest and have numerous large tributaries. I just go down to the rivers and search for old water logged pieces that suit my intended design. I do scrub the wood with a wire brush, pressure wash, then scrub with bleach and let it sit for a couple hours. Then I rinse in hot running water and put it in my tanks. The beavers already have eaten all the bark and trimmed the branches in a way that renders a very natural look. I know I am lucky to live by such clean rivers full of wood. The hard part is finding very old, hard, dense, water logged pieces that may be many decades old so they are already aquarium safe.
I sieved my own substrate from a high mountain stream which has water with a pH of 5.1 and is incredibly soft, an unbelievable 15 ppm TDS. Perfect wild Discus water only 135 miles away. I never expected that but I decided to test it on a fly fishing trip. Sand from a stream like that should be safe.
I considered buying some wood but the cost of the freight is as high as the cost of the wood.
Maybe somewhere between "here and there' you have some clean streams which contain usable wood?
I just set up a 125 gal and I know the wood I found would have cost me about $200 to buy and have shipped based on what I saw for sale on aquabid.com..

 

[Newt]

I'm not sure there are any clean rivers or streams left in the northeast. However, our water supply is almost as soft as your water BUT nowdays it is protected by people carrying guns - Nobody allowed near it.

 

[brighty K]

If quality is your goal, ADA Old Blackwood is hard to beat in the aquarium. It's dense, doesn't leach tannins, and it's branchy and beautiful!

Downside, it's pricey. Even so, if you have the means, like I said, it's hard to beat.

Check out the link to get some. You can talk to Jeff about what you want and he'll pick some out for your needs. http://www.adgshop.com/

 

[Newt]

Thanks for the link, BrightyK.

Just what I wanted.

 

[brighty K]

Glad to help!

I hope I didn't over speak... if it leaches tannins at all, it's very little.

Anyway, it is beautiful!

 

[Lord Nibbler]

If there is an Aquarium Adventure near where you live, they usually have bogwood. Its pricey, but comes clean (other than soaking out some of the tannins).

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

http://www.manzanita.com/aqwood.htm

 

[Newt]

Thanks for you input LordNibbler and SpeedEuphoria.

I can only find 'chunks' of bogwood around here.

Lord Nibbler: My brother used to live in Hoffmann Estates where Aquarium Adventure has a store. Too bad he's still not there. Coulda picked something up during a visit.

Nice looking stuff, Speed.