# Check out my Wood!



## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

Hey everyone..
I have been eyeing up this amazing piece of driftwood for awhile now..A guy who lives a little while down the road had it sitting in his yard and I have no idea why. 
It's huge and perfect for my upcoming 180g so last night my girlfriend, and her friends got quite hammered and "borrowed" this driftwood and brought it back for me! It was the greatest present ever!









This thing is heavy as hell too...
Here it is. 
View attachment 101744


Anyways...due to it's size, I can't boil it. Theres quite a bit of soil on it too.
So how should I go about preparing this piece?

Thanks


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## p's (Feb 3, 2006)

use your tub bro! soak it with bleach 10:1 ratio for one day with hot water then rinse it,then soak it again with dechloronator for 1 day with hot water, after that rinse it again and then soak it without dechloronator wth hot water for 1 day(repeat it for 3 days)... then whala your ready


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## Speedy (Sep 25, 2004)

Nice wood Shep!


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

damn thats tight....good luck with soaking that beast...


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

that is a nice piece of drift they dude! if i would you, i'll drill a small hole around it for plants the plant on the driftwood.


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## oscared15 (Feb 3, 2006)

that's an awesome piece of driftwood, that will be an amazing additionto to the tank :nod:


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## RedBelly Dom (Mar 22, 2005)

Sweet driftwood, its gonna look nice in ur tank. Good luck preparing it.


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

ive thought about "borrowing" many pieces i have seen on peoples lawns. i have no idea why people put dead trees in their garden.........

anyways nice piece, i hope you have a big tank. or do you plan on downsizing the wood into 2 pieces?

i have 2 nice root drift wood pieces that i have had for months but i havent got them in my tanks because they are too big. the only tank that will fit them is my 120 gallon but im not putting wood in wqith those fish so now i have to get rid of those fish and put some p's in there


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

Thanks everyone..It's going to be a royal pain the ass preparing this piece but I think it will be worth it!

I haven't thought of breaking into 2 pieces before...That sounds like a great idea and I just might do that. First i'll prep it and see how it looks (and if it fits) then I may break it in 2 pieces.


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## fliptasciouz (Jul 4, 2004)

Yes attach some java ferns on that huge driftwood, its gonna look amazing.


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## Wussola (Jan 25, 2006)

Your girl friend rocks!


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## black_piranha (Jan 12, 2006)

that's huge! what size tank is it goin in?


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

Wussola said:


> that's huge! what size tank is it goin in?


This will be going in a 180g. So the tank is 24" High and 24" Wide


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## Natt King Shoal (Aug 7, 2004)

Go to Walmart and buy a Rubbermaid bin that is used to store blankets (the big bin). They should be around $10. Use that to bleach the wood and you will not be tying up the bathtub.


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## I-Eat-My-Master (Feb 19, 2006)

I'd suggest sawing it or powersawing it into two pieces, and then you can always glue, or bolt it back together... and the upside of that is, you can more easily prepare it if its two smaller pieces....


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

Very nice lookin piece you got there... and what a girl you must have!


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## oscar119 (Nov 26, 2005)

Natt King Shoal said:


> Go to Walmart and buy a Rubbermaid bin that is used to store blankets (the big bin). They should be around $10. Use that to bleach the wood and you will not be tying up the bathtub.


Not a bad idea. I'd probably do that so you don't hog the bath tub. Nice peice of driftwood. And I will agree awesome g/f..


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

I-Eat-My-Master said:


> I'd suggest sawing it or powersawing it into two pieces, and then you can always glue, or bolt it back together... and the upside of that is, you can more easily prepare it if its two smaller pieces....


glue may harm the fish and mess up the water and the bolts will rust unless stainless steel............ it would be better to cut it down the middle and have 2 awesome pieces at each end of the tank. put the flat cut side against the back of the tank on the flat surface and then you have the awesome tree like side exposed to the front.

thats what i would be doing. have fun cutting that thing LOL


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

cut it in 2 piece would be best of your 180g.


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2006)

I would put that bad boy right i nthe middle of the tank as a showpeice


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## fliptasciouz (Jul 4, 2004)

Natt King Shoal said:


> Go to Walmart and buy a Rubbermaid bin that is used to store blankets (the big bin). They should be around $10. Use that to bleach the wood and you will not be tying up the bathtub.


or a garbage bin, you'll definitely regret if you ever clean it in your bath tub


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

DannyBoy17 said:


> I would put that bad boy right i nthe middle of the tank as a showpeice


This was my original plan. Just because its so damn nice!!

But now i'm not sure because cutting it in half and putting the flat cut side against the back and having the rest of it sticking out into the tank would look sweeeet!!

I may have no other choice but to cut it because it may be bigger then 24" wide and 24" tall








I'll have to measure it.

The other thing is that I want to have 9 Reds and/or Caribes in this 180g tank. But i'm thinking this driftwood will take up ALOT of their swimming space!

What do you think? Does it really matter..or no?

btw..I'll try to get more pics up of the wood so you can see the real size of it better


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

post pics of your girl now...i mean nice wood u got there









has the guy who previously owned it know its missing yet? lol
or does he have any suspisions?

are there any maggets in it?


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## mattd390 (Dec 5, 2005)

Man I hope ur neighbor doesnt come over for a cup of sugar and see that beast chillin' in ur tank







.


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## Fresh2salt (Jul 16, 2004)

that thing is hugh







ask your girl to grab me one ?


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## werdna (Mar 15, 2005)

its lookin good dude


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Well personally I think it is pretty low that your"girl"had to go and "barrow"this beauty from your neighbor.Personally I hope she gets her ass beat for being a theif.Although it is a nice peice of wood,I would be ashamed to show it off in the same aspect.Sounds really kewl when peole ask where you got it and your reply is"my girlfriend stole it from my neighbor"Now there is something to be proud of.I would deffenitly get more satisfaction on aquiring a beauty like this on my own and legally


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

AKSkirmish said:


> Well personally I think it is pretty low that your"girl"had to go and "barrow"this beauty from your neighbor.Personally I hope she gets her ass beat for being a theif.Although it is a nice peice of wood,I would be ashamed to show it off in the same aspect.Sounds really kewl when peole ask where you got it and your reply is"my girlfriend stole it from my neighbor"Now there is something to be proud of.I would deffenitly get more satisfaction on aquiring a beauty like this on my own and legally


Thanks for your opinion asshole









Just assume that my "neighbour" and I live on a busy city road. Our houses are very far apart, he's on a huge farm. That's what it's like when you live in a small town. Ya this piece of was on his property, but his Property is huge..and to tell you the truth he probly hasn't seen this piece of wood before, and if he has I know he doesn't care.

Take a deep breath there buddy, she didn't do a bank robbery. 
Calm down....it'll be ok.


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## SAD_DC (Jan 5, 2006)

Sheppard said:


> Well personally I think it is pretty low that your"girl"had to go and "barrow"this beauty from your neighbor.Personally I hope she gets her ass beat for being a theif.Although it is a nice peice of wood,I would be ashamed to show it off in the same aspect.Sounds really kewl when peole ask where you got it and your reply is"my girlfriend stole it from my neighbor"Now there is something to be proud of.I would deffenitly get more satisfaction on aquiring a beauty like this on my own and legally


Thanks for your opinion asshole









[/quote]

wow thats the single BEST reply i have ever heard on this forum OMFG i came very close to crapping myself after I saw this lol and with the smily face and all OMFG.....wow..thanks for the good laugh ....wow lol......but nice nice wood...


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## oscar119 (Nov 26, 2005)

Sheppard said:


> I would put that bad boy right i nthe middle of the tank as a showpeice


The other thing is that I want to have 9 Reds and/or Caribes in this 180g tank. But i'm thinking this driftwood will take up ALOT of their swimming space!

What do you think? Does it really matter..or no?

btw..I'll try to get more pics up of the wood so you can see the real size of it better








[/quote]

More pics would help decide that and measurements at furthest points. I personally like it whole and think it would provide mucho hiding spots, but I would only put it in whole if you didn't have too much else in there.


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

I will have some pictures of it up sometime tonight so then you have a better idea of it's size.

Then I can get your guys thoughts on what I should do with it.
Thanks


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

yeah! get that thing set up and take some pic.. well ya lolj/k.


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## studmuffin992 (Feb 27, 2006)

yea gr8 piece of driftwood would look nice with some plants on it also. take some pics wen its in ur new tank.


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## r1dermon (Mar 9, 2005)

nice wood, but i agree, you shoulda asked him before you just went and took it...if he didnt care about it, im sure he would've given it to you...you never know, he might have a stash of a ton of cool pieces of wood he would've let you have, but since you didnt ask him, he didnt know you wanted it. and im sure he wouldnt be happy if he knew you took it off his property...im not trying to be an asshole, just suggesting that there might've been a better way to get it.









anyway, can't wait to see pics. it looks like an amazing piece of wood. i'd pressure wash the heavy dirt off and then soak it in a rubbermade for a few days, like was already suggested, it should start to sink after a few days of heavy soaking, especially if you weigh it down.


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

Heres afew quick pics I just took right now.

I used a coke can for size refference.
View attachment 101980

View attachment 101981


Heres the back of it.
View attachment 101982


Here's a shot of the side
View attachment 101983


I think i'm going to break it in two separate pieces and then soak it for awhile.
So I can prep it by soaking it in a 10:1 water/bleach solution for about a week?
Anything else?


> you shoulda asked him before you just went and took it...


Your probably right..But I guess this sounded alot worse than what it really is :laugh: 
We know eachother pretty well and he's a good friend of ours.. and I know he doesn't care if I take scrap wood he doesn't want.. I know he doesn't want it, trust me. It was in a big wood pile about half a kilometre from his house.









Anyways, The pressure washer idea is awesome! I will definitley be doing that
Thanks for the tip!


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Sheppard said:


> Well personally I think it is pretty low that your"girl"had to go and "barrow"this beauty from your neighbor.Personally I hope she gets her ass beat for being a theif.Although it is a nice peice of wood,I would be ashamed to show it off in the same aspect.Sounds really kewl when peole ask where you got it and your reply is"my girlfriend stole it from my neighbor"Now there is something to be proud of.I would deffenitly get more satisfaction on aquiring a beauty like this on my own and legally


Thanks for your opinion asshole









Just assume that my "neighbour" and I live on a busy city road. Our houses are very far apart, he's on a huge farm. That's what it's like when you live in a small town. Ya this piece of was on his property, but his Property is huge..and to tell you the truth he probly hasn't seen this piece of wood before, and if he has I know he doesn't care.

Take a deep breath there buddy, she didn't do a bank robbery. 
Calm down....it'll be ok.








[/quote]

It was just my 2 cents there guy.Whats with the smartass remarks.Name calling is not needed.







It is a nice peice of wood,and probably one of the nicest I have seen.It will look good in your tank.


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Nice looking peice of wood take some pics once its in your tank.


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## Wussola (Jan 25, 2006)

Sheppard said:


> Thanks for your opinion asshole


That was the best response I've ever heard. I was laughing for like 5 mins.

Those pictures of the wood are awesome! Can't wait to see pics once the tanks up and running.


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

very! very nice dirftwood...wow! can't wait to see that sucker in your set up.


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## ___ (Feb 19, 2006)

sweet wood man...if i had the room for a tank that big i would get some big ass driftwood like that....deff. want to see the pics of it in the tank


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

AKSkirmish said:


> Well personally I think it is pretty low that your"girl"had to go and "barrow"this beauty from your neighbor.Personally I hope she gets her ass beat for being a theif.Although it is a nice peice of wood,I would be ashamed to show it off in the same aspect.Sounds really kewl when peole ask where you got it and your reply is"my girlfriend stole it from my neighbor"Now there is something to be proud of.I would deffenitly get more satisfaction on aquiring a beauty like this on my own and legally


Thanks for your opinion asshole









Just assume that my "neighbour" and I live on a busy city road. Our houses are very far apart, he's on a huge farm. That's what it's like when you live in a small town. Ya this piece of was on his property, but his Property is huge..and to tell you the truth he probly hasn't seen this piece of wood before, and if he has I know he doesn't care.

Take a deep breath there buddy, she didn't do a bank robbery. 
Calm down....it'll be ok.








[/quote]

It was just my 2 cents there guy.Whats with the smartass remarks.Name calling is not needed.







It is a nice peice of wood,and probably one of the nicest I have seen.It will look good in your tank.








[/quote]

Hey man, sorry I blew up about that. Thanks for the compliment though! I also think it's one of the nicest iv'e seen!
Thanks









And to everyone else...I will definitley be getting pics up when it's in the new tank!
Thanks for all the responses!


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

its a piece of a dead tree............... people he didnt steal a car. please no dont take that peice of dead tree off my lawn. good god people lighten up.

as for his g/f being a theif............. i wouldnt call her a theif for taking some dead tree peice. it was a very thoughtful and loving gesture







lol


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## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

Nice wood


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## r1dermon (Mar 9, 2005)

piranha-guy-dan, how do you know that the guy didnt have plans for that "Dead piece of wood"? what if he sold it to an artist who hadnt picked it up yet? what if he wanted to burn it? or make some crazy legs for a coffee table...you dont know what was going on with that wood, as long as its ON his property, it IS his property, and THAT is an arrestable offense. im not trying to blow this out of proportion, because in all likelihood, it's just a piece of wood and the guy barely even knew it was there, but the action of stealing is illegal. its a great piece of wood and i wish shepperd luck with it, especially after he cuts it, BTW, when you cut that sucker, you might want to go back over it with a wood chisel and round off the parts where you cut, they'll stick out like a sore thumb since they havent been weathered. but anyway, its always better to ask, i've asked my neighbors for rocks before which were next to their driveway and sure, they let me take them and looked at me crazy, but i still asked, what do you think they would've said if they saw me out there just taking 1ft rocks off of their driveway? its just always better to ask before assuming they wont miss it, even for a piece of dead wood.







not trying to bust balls, just throwing out my experience, good luck with the wood man...can't wait to see pics.


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

Sheppard said:


> The other thing is that I want to have 9 Reds and/or Caribes in this 180g tank. But i'm thinking this driftwood will take up ALOT of their swimming space!
> 
> What do you think? Does it really matter..or no?
> 
> btw..I'll try to get more pics up of the wood so you can see the real size of it better


Just think of it this way, if your P's ever start acting up, you can use it as a divider









Really, that thing is huge. Nice piece of driftwood you got there!


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## C0Rey (Jan 7, 2006)

you said wood!


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## oscar119 (Nov 26, 2005)

r1dermon said:


> piranha-guy-dan, how do you know that the guy didnt have plans for that "Dead piece of wood"? what if he sold it to an artist who hadnt picked it up yet? what if he wanted to burn it? or make some crazy legs for a coffee table...you dont know what was going on with that wood, as long as its ON his property, it IS his property, and THAT is an arrestable offense.


My take on it is yes it is theft to a certain extent but you usually don't leave anything you're quite fond of or truthfully want to keep for a purpose where someone can steal it. There is a remote chance the guy wanted it but a larger chance that he didn't really give a crap about it. I agree, he should have asked first but it's day late and a dollar short.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Sheppard said:


> Well personally I think it is pretty low that your"girl"had to go and "barrow"this beauty from your neighbor.Personally I hope she gets her ass beat for being a theif.Although it is a nice peice of wood,I would be ashamed to show it off in the same aspect.Sounds really kewl when peole ask where you got it and your reply is"my girlfriend stole it from my neighbor"Now there is something to be proud of.I would deffenitly get more satisfaction on aquiring a beauty like this on my own and legally


Thanks for your opinion asshole









Just assume that my "neighbour" and I live on a busy city road. Our houses are very far apart, he's on a huge farm. That's what it's like when you live in a small town. Ya this piece of was on his property, but his Property is huge..and to tell you the truth he probly hasn't seen this piece of wood before, and if he has I know he doesn't care.

Take a deep breath there buddy, she didn't do a bank robbery. 
Calm down....it'll be ok.








[/quote]

It was just my 2 cents there guy.Whats with the smartass remarks.Name calling is not needed.







It is a nice peice of wood,and probably one of the nicest I have seen.It will look good in your tank.








[/quote]

Hey man, sorry I blew up about that. Thanks for the compliment though! I also think it's one of the nicest iv'e seen!
Thanks









And to everyone else...I will definitley be getting pics up when it's in the new tank!
Thanks for all the responses!








[/quote]

Sorry guy,I didn't mean for this to go this way.I did not want to make this an argument.Chances are-you guys are right on assuming that this neighbor didn't want this peice of wood.He probably wont even miss it.The reason for my earlier response was to just bring it to your attention that it was theft.Like stated above alls you probably had to do was ask the guy.







Keep us aupdated on this project.I am curious as to how this turns out(soaking, cutting,etc,etc).Thanks ak


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

Thanks for all your advice.
Unfortunatley I wont be able to prep this wood for about a month. 
But when that time comes, I will have some pics up.
Thanks


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Sheppard said:


> Thanks for all your advice.
> Unfortunatley I wont be able to prep this wood for about a month.
> But when that time comes, I will have some pics up.
> Thanks


Why shall it take you a month?


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

AKSkirmish said:


> Thanks for all your advice.
> Unfortunatley I wont be able to prep this wood for about a month.
> But when that time comes, I will have some pics up.
> Thanks


Why shall it take you a month?








[/quote]

It's because I don't have the tank it will be going in yet and i'd like to have it all measured up before prepping it.

I also don't have anywhere to prepare it right now!
I can't wait


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

the guy was probably greatful that he got this chunk of wood off his property. most people just leave it there because there is no where else to put it. you found a good use for it other then just sitting there rotting. ive got stuff on my property i wouldnt mind people coming to take lol it saves me the hassel of getting rid of it myself.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Sheppard said:


> Thanks for all your advice.
> Unfortunatley I wont be able to prep this wood for about a month.
> But when that time comes, I will have some pics up.
> Thanks


Why shall it take you a month?








[/quote]

It's because I don't have the tank it will be going in yet and i'd like to have it all measured up before prepping it.

I also don't have anywhere to prepare it right now!
I can't wait








[/quote]

Kewl,kewl,Sounds great there guy.Cant wait to see the pics of the monster in there.When shall you be getting the tank abouts?Also what does it take to prep something like this?Thanks for the info ak


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