# Fake driftwood?



## Cheeseybacon (Feb 13, 2005)

I've been searching for that perfect peice of driftwood for a while now, and I'm becoming really frustrated. All of the fish stores in my area suck really bad, and none of them have any driftwood that I would consider for my tank. I also find it impossible to talk myself into buying a peice of driftwood from an online shop. However, the shops in my area do carry quite an abundance of fake driftwood, most of which is of the exact size and shape that I'm looking for. Could I get something like Java moss to attach to fake driftwood, and most importantly, for those of you out there using fake driftwood, does it look that much different from the real deal once it's submerged and in the tank?


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## ming (Dec 6, 2003)

Whats fake driftwood?


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## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

He's probably talking about that platic-looking fake stuff. I don't think java fern/moss will attach to that, but I could be wrong. 


ming said:


> Whats fake driftwood?


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## danmhippo (Feb 3, 2005)

Moss will have a hard time cling to the plastic surface. Unlike rocks, which may look smooth, but has small pores of holes that plants can anchor onto, plastic drift wood does not. It's not impossible, just much harder than real wood.

You could try wrap the artificial wood with moss and fishing lines. If they could not get a good anchor on the surface, at least they will be able to hold onto the gap between the fishing line and the plastic surface.

I helped a guy with plastic reef rocks and macro algae (caulerpa sp.). Even though caulerpa after a while seems to be anchoring, but accidental bump or strong current will knock them off. The only algae that made to the surface is calcarious coralline algae, which isn't an option for FW tanks.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

The world is full of wood, surely you have lakes and streams in PA to go poking through in search of a "unique" piece to use in your tank ? roud:


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## pk-sd (Feb 16, 2005)

Petsmart and Petsmart.com has fake driftwood. They look fairly real I had a large piece in my 55g. Everyone thought it was real wood. Now that I have converted this tank to a planted tank, I took out this fake drift wood and put in some real Malaysian bogwood.

I do not know if plants will attach to it. Best thing about fake stuff is that it will not discolor your water or change water chemistry.

Picture from Petsmart.com:


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## Gomer (Aug 14, 2003)

Wanna know a secret 

ALL of the anubias is FIRMLY growing on a fake petsmart rock


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## Pharo (Jan 30, 2005)

Fake? Do you mean like wally world fake? Well, I don't like real drift wood ether. So I use Porcelain but not plastic. I could never get real drift wood to quit leeching out yellow stuff. I tried soaking it out, scrubing it out and boiling but I still got ring around the collar. 

But I make the fake stuff look ok, here is a pic


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## glass-gardens.com (Apr 14, 2004)

If confession is good for the soul, here's mine, just bought it a few days ago from the LFS, or rather traded green stuff for it. I like it, and I think it will look very nice when in the tank once it get's a bit of algae on it and surround by live plants. Wondering about using the hollow part to plant something in, but I'm not sure what yet.










I draw the line at plastic plants though.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Javamoss attaches firmly to my HOB filter intake which is a plastic pipe, no doubt in my mind it will attach to fake driftwood. I wouldn't use it but that's just my personal pref for natural stuff. 

Just be careful you get something that is meant to be under water, not the terrarium decorations. Some of the fake ornaments can leach out poisonous substances as some people (their fish) found out.


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## glass-gardens.com (Apr 14, 2004)

Good advice, in Petsmart at least they have identical pieces, one for fish, one for reptiles.


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## _BGA_ (Jan 15, 2005)

hey tony, is there a place i can see other pics of your 29 gal? whith all of the shadowing, it's hard to tell what it would look like in your house on a normal basis.


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## aquabillpers (Nov 28, 2003)

I've had java fern grow and multiply on the sides of an aquarium. When I finally took down the tank, I had to scrape the roots off the glass with a razor blade, and it wasn't easy.


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## Cheeseybacon (Feb 13, 2005)

Buck is right, the world is full of wood. I'm going to go find me a peice of driftwood right now!


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## figgy (Feb 27, 2005)

*What I bought Today*

Since we're still frozen and under a new batch of snow here, now is no time to hunt wood! I got this fab piece on eBay for $12.00 for my new 46gal bowfront. I find lots of cool driftwood here.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4363080006&indexURL=0#ebayphotohosting


Figs


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## glass-gardens.com (Apr 14, 2004)

The last time I bought "driftwood" off eBay, it was advertised as part of a root structure, which is my preference, however it had obviously never been under water for any appreciable length of time, it was just cut off a fallen tree, the dirt washed off and I never could find any angle to measure it from that would match the dimensions they stated.

But then I never saw anything like your piece listed at the time. Nice.

I just collect my own now or buy plastic


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## jeff63851 (Oct 17, 2004)

I collected mine from a local stream from LA...Look at trail guides and look for a place that has a nice stream. After you collect it, make sure you boil it...I had some insect larva hitch hike on my driftwood...but mine makes the water reallllly brown.


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## Cheeseybacon (Feb 13, 2005)

Pennsylvania streams SUCK! I found 4 different peices that I liked, but all of them just desinigrated the moment I tried to boil them.


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