How to Make Driftwood

June 2018
While walking my dog this morning, I found pieces of what appear to be cuttings of birch tree roots.

These pieces have interesting shapes.

 I may use them in my aquariums as driftwood.

 Previously, I used driftwood found on the beach and I made driftwood out of toothpicks and chopsticks.
This time I want to cure wood the old fashioned way ;)
 Remove bark and dirt from the wood as best you can and tie the wood to a rock.

I use fishing line to tie the wood.

 There is some bark left...it will slow down the curing.
Well...anyway I am not in hurry.

Sink the wood in a stream or river.
This spot looks good - easy to remember where I stashed the wood.

The idea is to keep the wood under running water long enough for the wood to get cured.

The wood releases tannin in water as it gets "cured".
Tannin is harmless to fish but makes water darker. 

 It takes more time to cure larger pieces of wood.

It could take a year or more for all the tanin to leach out of the wood.

August 18th, 2018
 I decide to use this wood as is for my new projects.

 Surely this wood became a home for different aquatic critters.

I see a leech and pond snails.

Let's untie the wood and clean it up.
 In this example, I use a pocket knife and a steel brush to remove all the dirt and remains of bark.

This piece is too large for my projects.

 So, I saw it into smaller parts.
This piece has a nice tree crown shape.

 I cut 3 pieces of a desirable size.

Put all pieces in a pot.

Fill the pot with water to cover the wood.

Heat the water to boiling.
Then reduce the heat.
Make sure the water keeps boiling.
Boiling the wood speeds up curing and kills bacteria and microorganisms.

Replace or add boiling water as necessary.
Here you can see how dark the water gets with tannin.

In this example, it took me about 3.5 hours of boiling the wood, in addition to 6 weeks of soaking the wood in the stream, to get rid of tannin.
For comparison - it took me about 5 hours to boil toothpicks without previously soaking them!
The driftwood is ready if the water stays colorless.

 Cool driftwood down and use it in your aquariums.
In this example, I use the driftwood as a decoration in aquarium garden located on top of aquariums, in high humidity.

This particular project involves different types of growing underwater land mosses.

Unused driftwood can be stored on shells.
Driftwood does not expire.

Just soak the dry driftwood for a day or more before using it in aquariums.

Sink dry wood with load.

Cut or drill holes in the driftwood to fit your projects.

In this example, the driftwood serves as an anchor to hold Elodea plants.

Driftwood can be used as a base for plants and mosses to attach itself to.

Check links in the description to the video for details about everything mentioned in this video.

Have fun and happy aquariums :)