Driftwood

[revolutionhope]

I need to get quite a few pieces of driftwood for a couple of shrimp tanks and I want to know if there's any way of collecting it locally. What type of wood is suitable, how do I prepare it and also how do I know 100% if it is safe for use?

Failing that, what are the best value driftwood pieces to use and what are the various positive and negative effects that wood can have on the water chemistry or shrimp diet if they graze on it?

I don't care at all about aesthetics I just want the best wood for the shrimp to enjoy and as cheap as possible.

[emoji173] [emoji111]

Will

[KeenShrimp]

Just my two cents on what I have done: I would recommend it be as dry as a bone, plant sap kills shrimp fast. Wood that is heavy/hardwood works great. Preferably something found in or near a river bed that has already been exposed to water for some time, that way you can rule out plant sap. Then after collecting, high pressure wash or hose it off, boil it for as long as your family can stomach having it in the kitchen to kill whatever is living in the wood and then soak it in a tub of water with Seachem Prime for at least 2 weeks to make sure it is 100 recent shrimp safe. I added some tank water to the tub to colonise it with tank microbes. I have done this with a piece of wood collected near the beach. It might be overkill, but I value my shrimp. 

Second hand on Gumtree is cheap too ?

[jayc]

Keenshrimp has nailed it.