[Ryan Mosby]

Does anyone know where I can get pieces of driftwood like the two pieces from this tank?

The description says the wood is Redmoor but I haven't been able to find any pieces of any wood quite like this, where it's large and reaches across with multiple branches.

 

[MissCris]

If you watch a lot of aquascaping videos you'll find that many times they are actually using multiple pieces and either arranging them to appear as one large piece (hiding the ends in substrate, hardscape or plants), or they are affixing pieces together using superglue with sawdust/cotton/cigarette filters or using screws, or a combination of both. There are tons of how-to tutorials on YouTube, as well as on aquascape supply websites. This approach has the benefit of allowing the 'scaper to create shapes that perfectly suit their design.

You also can find online retailers (websites, ebay, etsy, etc.) who show pics of individual wood pieces for sale rather than an "example" picture where you get something random. That tends to be expensive, but you can get exactly what you see.

I suggest looking into manzanita wood to find pieces that are arched like that, as it is fairly readily available. It often grows long and has a root-like shape, and you can find thick pieces for sale in addition to the thinner pieces often offered. Wedding decor and florist supply shops often have it as well, and for less than what aquarium suppliers charge, just make sure it's untreated.

Edit: on closer examination of the picture, I think there are at least four or five, very probably more, pieces of wood in that tank creating the appearance of heavy branching. That's part of the artistry of good aquascape: designing a believable illusion that is completely contrived but still looks natural. If that really is only two exceptionally shaped branches, then I don't even want to think about how much they paid for them.

 

[jern]

Whatever you decide on, DO YOUR RESEARCH.

Driftwood can take months to get it to do what you envision. I wanted to set up my fish tank for my son's 4th birthday (He gets a pet fish, I get a cool planted tank haha). I found the most incredible piece of Mopani driftwood, all gnarled with crevices, holes and so much detail. I paid $70 for it at the LFS. Brought it home, got all my equipment to set up my tank. Then I read online how to prep Mopani driftwood for a tank, turns out it leaches tannins into the water and turns the water brown (some prefer this aesthetic, gives it a natural look. I however, do not.) So I soaked the wood for a week, boiled it literally all day on my day off. Two weeks went by and no progress. Then after reading multiple posts online, some people said they had Mopani wood that leached tannins for literally YEARS before it stopped.

I decided to scrap the Mopani wood and get Spider wood (I use the Mopani wood for decoration in a hallway now).

This new piece of Spider wood is massive. I've been soaking it for a week now and it just WILL NOT sink. So I ordered slate and stainless steel screws online, I'm currently waiting for them to arrive so I can drill holes in the slate and anchor it to the Spider Wood.

TL;DR - It's taken me 3 months to get a tank set up because my driftwood isn't doing what I want it to do.

 

[MissCris]

Whatever you decide on, DO YOUR RESEARCH.

Driftwood can take months to get it to do what you envision. I wanted to set up my fish tank for my son's 4th birthday (He gets a pet fish, I get a cool planted tank haha). I found the most incredible piece of Mopani driftwood, all gnarled with crevices, holes and so much detail. I paid $70 for it at the LFS. Brought it home, got all my equipment to set up my tank. Then I read online how to prep Mopani driftwood for a tank, turns out it leaches tannins into the water and turns the water brown (some prefer this aesthetic, gives it a natural look. I however, do not.) So I soaked the wood for a week, boiled it literally all day on my day off. Two weeks went by and no progress. Then after reading multiple posts online, some people said they had Mopani wood that leached tannins for literally YEARS before it stopped.

I decided to scrap the Mopani wood and get Spider wood (I use the Mopani wood for decoration in a hallway now).

This new piece of Spider wood is massive. I've been soaking it for a week now and it just WILL NOT sink. So I ordered slate and stainless steel screws online, I'm currently waiting for them to arrive so I can drill holes in the slate and anchor it to the Spider Wood.

TL;DR - It's taken me 3 months to get a tank set up because my driftwood isn't doing what I want it to do.

Yah, my large mopani leached like crazy for 4 months (soaked in a bucket that got dumped and refilled every morning), by month 5 it had quit leaching enough not to affect my tank with regular water changes.

 

[Ryan Mosby]

@jern @MissCris I love tannins! And the biofilm the driftwood exudes for a while is usually eaten by my shrimp. The only annoying part of driftwood to me is waiting for it to sink.

 

[Asteroid]

I used two pieces of spider wood to get this affect in my tank:

 

[Ryan Mosby]

@Asteroid That looks really good! I went ahead and bought some pieces of manzanita to try out. What did you use for the large pieces to the right, and how do they not fall over? It all looks ss good!

 

[Asteroid]

@Ryan Mosby

Thanks, Here's the original hardscape only shot. Just one piece on the left and one on the right. The one on the left is nudged between seiryu and the one on the right is sitting on top of seiryu. Having it sit higher on the right allowed that crossing diagonal effect. Nothing is tied or glued.

 

[Ryan Mosby]

I went and bought some various pieces of driftwood to try and create the look I want, but I was wondering how they achieved such height on the left side? Rocks, a type of driftwood? I'm not sure how to gain such height in my own tank, but I know I don't want to do a high pile of dirt.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Does anyone know where I can get pieces of driftwood like the two pieces from this tank?
View attachment 1025896

The description says the wood is Redmoor but I haven't been able to find any pieces of any wood quite like this, where it's large and reaches across with multiple branches.

Hi @Ryan Mosby

The wood does look like multiple pieces and based upon the reddish color and texture it looks like Malaysian driftwood.
-Roy

 

[Ryan Mosby]

Thank you! Any idea how they got it so high up on the sides? They did a great job covering up the job with plants. <3

 

[MissCris]

There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube, but many involve using rock (lava rock is light and cheap, and once covered plants stick to it really well) and either reef cement or pond foam to attach them into a structure. If it is very tall and narrow front to back, you will either want to silicone it to the tank or cement it to a flat slate base so it won't tip. You can also anchor the wood to the rock structure so it won't shift later, and this also allows you to create gravity-defying layers of wood to give that forced perspective depth.

 

[Ryan Mosby]

There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube, but many involve using rock (lava rock is light and cheap, and once covered plants stick to it really well) and either reef cement or pond foam to attach them into a structure. If it is very tall and narrow front to back, you will either want to silicone it to the tank or cement it to a flat slate base so it won't tip. You can also anchor the wood to the rock structure so it won't shift later, and this also allows you to create gravity-defying layers of wood to give that forced perspective depth.

Thank you! I'll check out if my LFS has some lava rock, I like the idea of plants rooting to it.

 

[MissCris]

If you don't find lava rocks at the LFS, most large hardware and landscape places carry it for use as a ground cover or for a base layer in bbq pits at around $5 for a bag.