# Driftwood Suggestions?



## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Uh... is this on the right section? If not feel free to move it :-D

Anyway. I've never had driftwood before, but I'm beginning to consider getting one or two. Buuut since my tanks are nano (5.5 and 3), they can't be huge. They also definitely cannot be sharp. Both tanks I plan to put driftwood in currently hold a Betta recovering from fin damage. I also can't exactly do the whole boiling thing  I don't have a pot or pan. But I heard people only boil them to remove the tannin? If I say I don't mind the tannin, can they go straight in? 

What sort of driftwood do you guys like best?


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## hellobird (Nov 11, 2015)

I believe the driftwood you buy from LPS and such are treated for fishtank use, so I would think they would be safe to put in the tank after buying. I would maybe pour some boiling water over the surface of it just to kill anything that might be there.

My personal favourite is ghostwood, but I have never been able to find it anywhere. Otherwise mopani has some really great colours and shapes, and is very dense wood so it should sink straight away (most other driftwood will float for a while before it becomes waterlogged), it's also notorious for tannins though!


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Dumb question: there's only one kind of tannin right? So it's the same tannin that we all know and love? Because hey ho! Free tannin! I actually kinda need it


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

I like manzanita wood.


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## RMKelly (Jan 17, 2016)

My boys have Gold Vine Driftwood in their 5 gallons. I brought one "small" piece and chopped it in half.


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## Bobioden (Dec 23, 2015)

I like Spiderwood. Check out JDAquatics store in the marketplace. He usually has some available. He also lists pieces on Aquabid.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Tannins from leaf litter (IAL) and driftwood is the same. The amount you get varies by wood type, age, size, and curing (boiling/baking etc).

My local petco actually keeps small species of wood in the fish tanks. I'd bought some a long time ago when I first bought my pleco and he was under 2" (his species maxes out at 18" so he out grew the small wood fast.. and eventually my tanks so he was re-homed. Anyways I'm not 100% sure on the species of the wood.. its a hardwood, it's lasted several years with no degrading and because it was submerged in the petco tanks so long I didn't have to deal with the fungus new wood gets. But because it was from petco I had to clean it. Boiling the wood or soaking it in a bleach dip (like plant dip but can have stronger bleach concentration and stay n much longer) then boil to get rid of anything nasty from the store tanks. It had some notches/sharp bumps on it but a simply go over wit *wet-dry sand paper *took care of the few rough spots. The wood has been in Alastor's 2g cookie jar for 2 years now.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

IMO, all driftwood should be boiled. I boil my Cholla even though it has never been exposed to aquatic pathogens or pesticides. However, some critter could have wet on it. Just like in a pet store some stray mouse could have hit their driftwood on a shelf.

If you can't boil you could at least put in a sink of the hottest water you can.


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## 206Betta (Jan 28, 2016)

Personally, I like the look of malaysian driftwood. Got it from my LFS and picked it out from one of their tanks. So, that might be an option for you if you have any LFS that would do the same. The one by me charged by the pound. So, I got a pretty good deal on it. 

Plus, I just dropped it in my tank which saved me the trouble of prepping it and everything.


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