Using Beach Driftwood??

Anyone ever use/find local driftwood from the shores here?? I'm interested in trying to find some of my own (and saving $$$) for use in my tank. We're going over there over spring break, so I could look for pieces then.

Anyone knowledgeable with this? Curing process? What to look for outside of rot?
Is this a good/bad idea?

I use drift wood from the river. I usually soak it in hot water and a diluted amount of bleach and then I soak it in water conditioner a couple times. If it's small enough to boil then I'll boil it on the stove. Someone else should be able to add to their techniques of the cleaning process. The only thing I don't like about driftwood is it takes forever to get it water logged. I've had a larger display piece underwater for three years now and it's still buoyant.

Ratlova30 wrote:I use drift wood from the river. I usually soak it in hot water and a diluted amount of bleach and then I soak it in water conditioner a couple times. If it's small enough to boil then I'll boil it on the stove. Someone else should be able to add to their techniques of the cleaning process. The only thing I don't like about driftwood is it takes forever to get it water logged. I've had a larger display piece underwater for three years now and it's still buoyant.

WOW 3 years?!?!!
Really what I want are some thin branches creeping up the sides of my tank and a couple very small pieces for my 10 gal and QT tank

I think for these it should be easy to get them saturated right? Boiling would be the biggest challenge since they'd be tall lol.

Did you (or anyone else) ever have problems with toxins from the water? I really don't wanna add a piece and have an entire tank of floating dead fish...

Sticks seem to take a long while too. I have a couple that are only about an inch in diameter and they've been submerged for over six months and they are still buoyant. I've never had bad results from my collected driftwood.

99% of my drift wood is collected by me out out of the bay and rivers/lakes

i normally let it dry out for a few weeks...soak it in as hot of water as you can keep it in(tub..trash bin for larger peaces ) scrub the crap out of it..and off of it

when collecting a good test is use your thumb nail...press it in to different part of the wood if you can leave a decent indent the wood is to far rotten..look for something with more bite and you cannot press your nail in to.

scrub scrub scrub soak ....than wait it down in your tank with stones (at the bottom of it) or tie rocks with fishing string to it that you can hide in your tank!..


I also have a few that i did not dry..or remove the bark form t hem (no clue on what type it is)..the bark was on to well ..i just soaked it in extremely hot water over about 5 days and scrubbed it...worked great.

this one has the most collected wood by me..even more in it now..and soon to be a bunch more!!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I do not recommend using any wood found at beaches.... There filled with problems, sand fleas, and other things that really shouldnt be in a fish tank.... Ive used rocks from the beach, but I always boil it for about 30 mins, then wipe with a bleach solution before using in my tanks.... So, unless you can boil the wood... i woulnd chance it.

sandnuka wrote:I do not recommend using any wood found at beaches.... There filled with problems, sand fleas, and other things that really shouldnt be in a fish tank.... Ive used rocks from the beach, but I always boil it for about 30 mins, then wipe with a bleach solution before using in my tanks.... So, unless you can boil the wood... i woulnd chance it.

If the wood is treated correctly before hand there is no harm..scrubbing soaking and drying kills off all the little nastiest from the water ..

Kaosu wrote:99% of my drift wood is collected by me out out of the bay and rivers/lakes

i normally let it dry out for a few weeks...soak it in as hot of water as you can keep it in(tub..trash bin for larger peaces ) scrub the crap out of it..and off of it

when collecting a good test is use your thumb nail...press it in to different part of the wood if you can leave a decent indent the wood is to far rotten..look for something with more bite and you cannot press your nail in to.

scrub scrub scrub soak ....than wait it down in your tank with stones (at the bottom of it) or tie rocks with fishing string to it that you can hide in your tank!..


I also have a few that i did not dry..or remove the bark form t hem (no clue on what type it is)..the bark was on to well ..i just soaked it in extremely hot water over about 5 days and scrubbed it...worked great.

this one has the most collected wood by me..even more in it now..and soon to be a bunch more!!
[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Wow... that looks AWESOME in your tank!

I've got a couple fairly large pieces I already bought, but I just want some more branchey, thin ones going up the sides. If I found a cool piece I suppose I wouldn't mind replacing one.

What is your process for treating the wood? Do you scrub it with a regular brush and bleach? then soak and repeat?
The last (tiny) piece of driftwood I bought I just boiled for a couple hours, but that was lfs stuff..

sandnuka wrote:I do not recommend using any wood found at beaches.... There filled with problems, sand fleas, and other things that really shouldnt be in a fish tank.... Ive used rocks from the beach, but I always boil it for about 30 mins, then wipe with a bleach solution before using in my tanks.... So, unless you can boil the wood... i woulnd chance it.

Yeah, see that was my concern initially. I know the waters are likely to contain toxins, and I wasn't sure about how to get them out.
I don't wanna nuke my whole tank with some toxic wood and have to start all over... I like my lil guys.

I can/would definitely be scrubbing and boiling the wood though, and I'm in absolutely no rush to toss it in the display tank, so it can soak as long as needed.

I never used bleach...

what i have done for all of my wood (mostly cuz im lazy ) is this:

find it...make sure its hard enough..get it home and set it out in the sun for a few days..or weeks..until i remember it again (drying kills most if not all of the water nastiest )

I have a large wash tub in the garage..i run the water on its hottest and stuff as much of the wood under water as i can....than forget about it till i remember to check water temp(few hours)..drain and repeat...than after 5-10 times of this i flip it around to do it on any part that was sticking out...after its all soggy again is scrub it with a plastic brush or a wire pot scrubber like this [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I clean all the bark off of it if possible..some wood dose not come out.

and soak and soak and soak for a few weeks ish if im really lazy or doing it out side in the summer.

than i add it to my tank!.

I have collected it from rivers lakes and salt water, ..never had anything bad happen.

collected by me :

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I have a pile of wood im treating at the moment to be added to my 65 gallon (the first pic) to fill the tank in allot more!..I can get pics of those logs to....and when they are in the tank.

Also, some wood decay and rot in water, or if in water with too high or lower water parameters cause deterioration.... So you cant just use any piece of wood, it has to be certain kinds of wood... not all wood belongs underwater.....

if your have a local fish from the area the wood is from, they can have built up immunitys to the different bacterias and stuff.... but if you have fish from africa, where that wood is not found you could be introducing a new problem to your fish....

And lastly, before I really researched this, i did try it as well... the wood I used just kept floating, it made me crazy! I had to prop rocks and stuff to keep it down, and when my fish moved the rocks, up came the log floating to the top.... I always buy my wood from now on.... bog log looks the best, and Ive never had problems with it..... well, make sure to soak it overnight or your tank water will turn red.

ok..not arguing..i have African fish with my collected logs ..and SA fish..and local fish..and Australian fish.

all in tanks with local collected wood.

done it..every thing is fine..so its possible.

but its your tank, make your own decisions ^_^

I have a few pieces in my tank I picked up from the beach in Burien. What I did as they were too big to boil, is I steamed them in my oven for 3 hours at 250F. I put foil on a cookie sheet, give the wood a good rinse off, then place in the oven. Check them every 15-20 minutes, either add a little bit of water to the cookie sheet, or put another pan of water underneath for steam. One downside to this is you'll get the smell of wet wood and salt in your house/apartment while you're doing it, and you definitely have to keep a close eye on it

After I bake I scrub it down good to get any loose pieces off, rinse outside with more boiling water, then into a large storage bin for soaking. Tied a few rocks to each to keep them under the water, and left them sitting for a month on my back porch. The baking method will make the pieces float again if they weren't before, but it'll help harden the pieces by acting like a kiln. Mine floated for about another month after I placed it in the tank.

I've always wanted to collect my own drift wood, maybe when it gets warmer this year I will
Kaosu you have some really nice pieces

i know that wood found IN NOT ON lakes is safe all needed to do is to bake or boil it plus a good scrubbing.and what sandnuka said about params is very true.i have locally collected wood my pleco has been living on it for days now and hes very healthy.ill put up videos later.you cant just ad wood it cant be fresh cut it has to be dead and DENSE=very very very hard or it leaks.all the above is gonna be very helpful to someone good job guys

You guys have any suggestion for a good place to pick up driftwood around south king county? I'm gonna boil for 24hrs as suggested on another forum.

I went to Seahurst beach in Burien.

Kaosu you could make some good money selling the wood you collect. Really nice looking stuff in your tanks. All I can find around here is really light colored driftwood, would love some darker stuff.

Ratlova30 wrote:Kaosu you could make some good money selling the wood you collect. Really nice looking stuff in your tanks. All I can find around here is really light colored driftwood, would love some darker stuff.

Totally agreed with you all the wood i have seen around here is always crappy light colored so i dont even bother bringing it home