[ANTIplastic]

That is the question.

The reason I asked is because I've come across some very awkward shape, very branchy DW and it's almost impossible to boil. I could boil some here and some there but it wouldn't be very thorough.

What are the terrible downsides to placing DW in your tank that hasn't been boiled? Will it kill my fish?

And on this forum alone I've seen a hundred pics of people placing driftwood similar to what I have found so I have to believe someone has conjured this very conundrum.f

 

[mattschaefer92]

Is this driftwood you found or bought? If you bought it, it should be safe to just put it in the tank. The worst thing it will do is leach some tannins which will make your water brown but won't hurt anything. And if you don't like the color, you could always throw some purigen in to clear it up.

 

[Sake]

What I did with my big piece was run my dishwasher without soap a few times then tossed it in there and ran it without soap or anything. May not kill everything but should kill parasites and a few other nasties.

 

[msawdey]

find a bin it will fit in and soak it. My last driftwood I just poured hot water in dumped when cold over about 2 days. Easy way could be in a bathtub

Not only will it remove tannins, but the hot water may take care of parasites or other bugs living in the wood and will also help with water logging it

 

[Option]

What I did with my big piece was run my dishwasher without soap a few times then tossed it in there and ran it without soap or anything.

Wow never thought about this. But this is a clever idea.

 

[lochaber]

I'm not sure there is that much of a risk of parasites/pathogens from wild found driftwood.



The main reasons I would consider boiling driftwood is to speed up the initial tannin leaching, and to help water-log the piece (heating causes the gasses in the wood pores to expand, driving them out of the wood, and then when the piece is cooled water is drawn into the pores).

When I get a bunch of big pieces, I throw them in the shower, and fill up the tub. (When I take a shower, I just drain them, and pile them on a towel/in buckets, and then put them back when I'm done). After a couple days, I'll scrub them with a brush and rinse them off. I'm mostly doing this to try and leech out salts that are soaked into the wood.

 

[MABJ]

When I got a bunch from Mr. Barr, I just dumped them in, weighted them down and they were good the next day. I'm very satisfied with it, and I haven't seen any negative sides from it.


MABJ's iDevice used for this message

 

[ANTIplastic]

The result

I went ahead and added it untreated. I simply striped it of all it's bark and placed it. Due to it's vine like shape it doesn't weigh much. I simply place a small stone on it and it stayed put.

 

[secuono]

I've just dumped them into a sacrificial tank of fish...never had issues.

 

[ANTIplastic]

I've just dumped them into a sacrificial tank of fish...never had issues.

Sacrificial Tank of Fish. Ha!