Zodiac007

I was going to buy a few large driftwoods at the petstores but turned out to be way overpriced. They're like $40 for a medium piece and like $70 for a large piece. So I'm thinking of going to my local rivers or lakes to collect some driftwoods. I live in Vancouver, BC Canada. So I'm thinking about collecting them from the Capilano River, Fraser River or from one of the many lakes around here. And they're freshwater of course.

I know I'll need to scrub them and boil them. But since they're already soaked with water, does that mean I don't need to soak them anymore? Just boil and scrub and I can put it right in the aquarium right?

Planning on collecting some large rocks at the rivers and lakes too since they too are way overpriced.

Has anyone use driftwood they've collected at a river or lake and did everything work out fine?

Thank you

Shawnie

Driftwood Notes heres a great thread that im sure you will find helpful

soldieroffortune1974

Shawnie provided you with an excellent link,so to answer the question yes you can use driftwood and rocks out of a lake,river,stream or out of the woods. The key is cleaning and decontaminating the pieces 1st.

aquarist48

I used cypress stumps from the creek in front of my house. They worked GREAT.

Zodiac007

also, would it matter if the wood is still alive? and how would you know if its completely dead?

aquarist48

You don't want to use wood that is still alive Driftwood will sound kind of hollow when you thump it and it will feel kind of hollow as well.

agabr123

if it sinks automatically then it doesnt need to be soaked for that reason, just boiled like you said

MrWaxhead

Hey hey good luck on your searching, I live just north of you in Squamish BC and my tanks are nothing but wood from local rivers and lakes, and yes pet stores charge a mint for wood. Just follow cleaning instructions that others have posted and your good to go. I have a great big electric roaster that I use for cleaning my peices and it works great as I can put very large peices in it.

I tend to go out at least one day a month from spring tell fall and go out looking for peices for my tanks rocks and wood, and even if I don't use them or find any its still a fun outing. I was just out last weekend and noticed the bears are back out so if your going into the bush at all be loud hehe. Last spring I almost stumbled onto a grumpy black bear as I was coming over a log jam, it was very grumpy so I backed away slowly and left the area. Now I tend to bring my buddies dog out for a walk as its loud and the bears tend to bolt as soon as they hear him.