driftwood????

i went down to the local creek last weekend and picked up some pieces of driftwood!
now i know i cant just throw the pieces into my tanks just lik that.
so wat are the things i should do to the pieces b4 i do??
boil them?

Yes boil it for a good 2 hours. If it still floats, drill holes, in it. The denser the wood, the better off you are

lol moving???? wat lik bugs??

ohh i drillrd holes in it!!!
i was messin round with a "holy wood" project lol
i liked the way it came out! ill post pics soon! haha
so just boil? how long do i let it dry?

nice!!!!!! kool
thanx alot man!!!!!! u guys are a great help!!!!

hey cajun!! do u know how to sex red eared sliders and saw backs turtles?

i think male turtles have long tails and females have short stubby tails. but im not 100% on that. u could google it if nobody knows

yeah thats wat iv heard!
i hav sliders! but tha lil octogon patterns are different in size!!!
one has smaller ones than the other
is that a way of telin them apart??

hmm.... thanx anyways!

with red ear sliders theirs many ways to tell apart i was reading about what you said about the nails its true also males have have a more pronounce head and the females have a fatter tail to dig for the eggs

i know were you can catch some BIG turtles, soft shells and red ear sliders lol

tim wrote:

i know were you can catch some BIG turtles, soft shells and red ear sliders lol

were

My goodness! I guess I need to make a how to on driftwood!
1) you need any kind of hardwood that is very very dead
2) rinse it off and boil it in a pot big enough for it.
3) Keep changing the water in the pot till it resembles weak tea, this may take several days. Try to maintain a high simmer/low boil most of the time.
4) let it cool off and place in tank.

All of the wood in my tanks I have gathered and cured myself. The reason you want hardwood is so that it will rot slower than wood from any other tree. You want it to be very dead because any sap may be harmful. The boiling kills anything alive as well as removes most of the tannins and it will also water log the wood so it won't float. You can remove the bark or leave it on its a personal choice, it will come off in the tank within 5 months though. The reason you change the water during the boiling process is so that you remove more tannins faster. Keep in mind that wood will lower the PH of your tank some.

very good info fern good to know

pretty cool!
ill try to get it done this weekend!!!
thanx fern! great help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Citrus and cypress make for good long lasting wood in tanks.

so it will eventually rot away????
how long does it take till its too bad to have in ur tank?

Many many many years. Every biological based material will eventually rot and/or deteriorate when submerged in water with flow. This is one reason that wood will lower the PH in your tank. Its the same reason that coral and shell will raise the PH in your tank. Everything rots just to different extents.

Back when I had my first tank (age 6) I had a bit of drift wood in there and I had that tank for about 4 years and never noticed the wood rotting away.

lol thats crazy!!!
thanx for all the info!!!!!
ill see if i can post some pix of my "holy wood" project 2 morrow!!

Yes I would really like to see it! It sounds cool.

Yes if cured properly DriftWood can last a very long time. The driftwood i have in my 135g tank has been in there for over 7 years and the guy i got it from had it in his tank over 5 years. Yes it does have a few soft spots, but overall it is in great shape !

it that one piece?

DaNG