Why is driftwood expensive?

[fishguy1978]

Go to the woods you man, go to the woods. Or plant a tree and wait. You might try a nursery they might let you have dead.

 

[PhishMon84]

I've been to both places frequently, I agree they are the two best in the North East (although the TI manager always looks angry to me). However, you won't find a piece greater than 12" at either for less than $50. Most are a lot more.

Thats likely one of the owners, Sharon has a interesting rep with customers. if you give her a hard time back She's cool, Shes been in the biz since like 1968. the manager is a young woman about 35.

I guess it just goes to show you we all have different market bearing prices we consider good or bad, i have pieces from them that fill the entire background of 75 gallon tank.

 

[Jexnell]

I have only used Manzanita I bought from

Manzanita-Driftwood.com - Stunning Aquarium Driftwood, Stones, & Fish

Shop now and take advantage of the BUY 2 GET 1 FREE deal. Nothing enhances a tank like Manzanita Driftwood or Stones

manzanita-driftwood.com

Prices are a lot better than I see in stores. Also when buying only Manzanita, it's buy 2 get one free, ( free one has to be equal or lower priced than the lowest cost one you bought)

 

[eon aquatics]

The vast majority of "driftwood" sold at the local LFS, is collected, cleaned, dried, and then shipped half way across the world, to wholesale distributors, where it is later sold to retail outlets. It's business, big business. About Goh Gek Peng Aquarium Trading | Malaysian Driftwood Supplier (ggpaquarium.com)

View attachment 1483054


Of course there are other kinds of wood that is collected and sold in mass quantities, such as Java wood from Indonesia. A very dense hard wood that is commonly used for parrots. I personally prefer this wood, but by the time it arrives in North America from Indonesia it's not cheap either. Same with Manzanita, probably a rather low cost wood in areas where it is native, but certainly not cheap in Northwest Canada where I live. As stated above, simply supply & demand at play.

wow that is a lot of driftwood!

 

[eon aquatics]

From what i know its expensive because of many reasons such as
Machinery required to haul it, collect it and so on
Pressure washers and other equipment such as chain saws
Many people don't have access to a beach, and even if they do, the beach is either privately owned or government owned

 

[BassetsForBrown]

Thats likely one of the owners, Sharon has a interesting rep with customers. if you give her a hard time back She's cool, Shes been in the biz since like 1968. the manager is a young woman about 35.

I guess it just goes to show you we all have different market bearing prices we consider good or bad, i have pieces from them that fill the entire background of 75 gallon tank.

Might be an owner. He's an older gentleman. He never said anything rude or nasty, I've never spoken with him, he just appears to always have an unapproachable look on his face whenever I see him.

 

[eon aquatics]

i dont know if i have ever seen driftwood at petco, i know that they sell mopani wood and spider wood and cork rounds

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Because I keep a lot of plecos and because I do planted community tanks, I use a lot of wood. For the most part I use Malaysian wood which is able to sink pretty much tight away. Over the years I have bough a lot of it.

The main reason the Malaysian has become expensive and also hard to find, is Covid. The same thing that backed up all those containers included the ones filled with driftwood. Moreover there are supply chain delays from the source all the way to our tanks.

I used to buy wood from FosterSmith (now liveaquaria) , kensfish, BigAls and Jehmco. Today kensfish, Jehmco and liveaquaria are out of stock and BigAls just announced they are closing their USA operation in mid January (they have none either).

I am not real fond of other wood but I have some cyprus and a bit of manzanita, but neither of these last as long as the Malaysian and do not offer the sort of hiding places I need.

Covid increased the demand in the aquarium hobby with so many staying at home and then the government payments provided buying power. My experience is fish related sales never dropped due to the pandemic except for those brick and mortar only businesses/

 

[PhishMon84]

Might be an owner. He's an older gentleman. He never said anything rude or nasty, I've never spoken with him, he just appears to always have an unapproachable look on his face whenever I see him.

That’s Ellis, Sharon’s husband he’s in his 80’s. He is the owner, been selling fish and equipment into MIT labs for decades. He’s a smart guy, tons of Knowledge. Pick his brain someday he’s got stories from when they used to carry exotic pets like anteaters and jaguars

 

[RD.]

The main reason the Malaysian has become expensive and also hard to find, is Covid. The same thing that backed up all those containers included the ones filled with driftwood. Moreover there are supply chain delays from the source all the way to our tanks.

I don't doubt that covid has helped any, but where I live in Northwest Canada the prices are the same now, as they were pre-covid. Even 5 years back in time driftwood from Malaysia or Indonesia cost mega bucks. The larger, more desirable pieces could easily retail for $150-250 CAD. Or more. And this was/is not just the large chain stores, but at the more specialty fish stores as well. In fact thinking more on this, those prices go back 10 yrs or more. Driftwood has never been cheap here.

At the large chains, such as what the OP mentioned (Petco/Petsmart) they also sells rocks the size of my fist for $10 and up. lol The difference being rocks can be purchased here in bulk at the local landscape yard, wood is not quite so easy. Most of our hard wood comes with sap, spruce, pine, so we can't just meander down to the river and collect driftwood for our tanks. For the most part the wood here sucks.