Finding Wood

[spitz006]

Has anyone had any luck with finding your own wood pieces? I have a lot of forest land to search and I live near Lake Michigan. Everyone talks about boiling the wood to get it ready for the aquarium but I don't really mind the tannins and I can always use purigen or biochecemzorb to clear up my water, so what is the quickest cheapest way to go about treating it? I've read that you can soak it in saltwater for a few days to kill anything living on it.

Another question:
There's a guy on craigslist giving away some firewood in small, odd shaped pieces that have been sitting out a few seasons in front of his house. Would there be any advantage to using these over stuff found in the forest?

Thanks.

 

[bigbadfish711]

The "quickest cheapest" way of sterilizing the wood will be to boil it or soak it in hot water. Soaking in hot water is mainly to kill any unwanted parities or any thing else that might be on or in the wood. You can use wood you find in the forest. Be sure to use dead wood and not fresh cut green wood.

If the wood has been siting out in the weather for long enough it should be fine. I would still boil it. If the wood is too big to boil on the stove you fill a rubbermaid tub or trashcan with hot water to soak the wood in.

 

[GolemGolem]

You are still talking drift wood right? If you want to make your own drift wood out of wood you just find in the forrest it can take a year or three. Adding not drift wood is not a good idea.

 

[cyberhog05]

^^^I agree! I wouldnt use random wood from the forest at all. I oven bake the pieces that fit and for the ones that dont fit in the oven I use a 55 gallon steel drum to boil large pieces. I have a hearth built under the drum and I start a fire and let it boil for a while. On cold days I have had to use landscaping brick to build around the drum to keep in heat.

 

[aclockworkorange]

I saw an interesting thread about a guy that used a hot tub to treat a large piece of wood.

 

[gomezladdams]

Look in drinking water resevoirs for driftwood.I find the best pieces in the stream after the dam.The pieces get stuck on top of the dam after floating around for years. Bake in the sun all summer and winter then spring rains wash them into the creek.You can boil them or soak in saltwater to sterilize them.

 

[fishmanbob87]

wood you find in the forest or woods is fine to use, i have been collecting driftwood for years from local rivers, woods, parks and resiviors... just got a big score lastnight actually, almost a whole tree perfectly cured by nature....

 

[ziggy2]

If you are close to Lake Michigan go there. I live on the Mississippi and after the spring high water, I collect my wood out of a little cove I go to every year.

The easiest way to clean your drift wood is take it to a car was. Don't use soap just the hot rinse. It works great.

 

[Aquanero]

I saw an interesting thread about a guy that used a hot tub to treat a large piece of wood.

Not the first time a hot tube been used for that!

 

[kilted6dad]

I use driftwood I find in and around Lake Superior. Small boggy lakes around the edge are well stocked by beavers. Awesome selection and well seasoned. I wash of or immerse in hot/boiling water. Was wondering about interesting peice of Firewood. I'll have to give it a try!