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Local Found Driftwood

886 Views 11 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  TheOtherGeoff, 
C
I was walking around the lake the other day when I found an awesome looking piece of driftwood that had washed up on the shore. What do I need to do to treat this wood so I can put in my tank?
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Wasserpest
If it sinks by itself, all it really needs is a good scrubbing with a stiff bristled brush to remove any things living in the cracks.

Some will tell you to boil it, roast it, or give it the bleach and potassium permanganate rub, but I have used rocks and wood from many areas and never had a problem.
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evercl92
run it through the dishwasher.
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D.gilly
I collected wood from a local shore here i what i did

Rinsed and scrubbed then let sit for a week
rinse and scrub again let sit for a week
rinse scrub and let sit for month
cover in bleach and let sit for 12 hours, then rinse scrub and repeat 3 times, let sit for a week
cover in bleach and let sit for 12 hours then rinse and scrub every day for a week.
Let sit in water for 2 more weeks.


Sure its a little drastic but you can never be too carefull.
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E
the thing you are all missing is that some driftwood is dealdy to fish because it will leach harmful chemicals. I cant remember what kinds specificly thought
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frozenbarb
Yes there are certains woods you shouldnt use. Soft wood would break down in your aquarium fast, Some will leech poison
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Mangala
specifically - soft woods like pine are a "no". most cedars are a "no" because they have a natural insecticide in the wood that
A. gives it a very distinctive scent,
B. makes Cedar a very attractive wood for human projects like house building and making boxes for storage,
C. kills fishes and causes respiratory infections in bunnies and snakes and reptiles when used in their habitats.

so... if you know what kind of wood you have, and are pretty sure that the pollution levels near your place of residence are relatively low, honestly, a good scrub under some hot water in the bathtub with an unused toilet brush is usually good enough. You may need to weight it down in the tank with a rock or something. Some people will drill through a piece of slate to the bottom of the wood to keep it down... I would be leery of a bleach bath because it will soak into the wood and stay there... I would be leery of running it through the dish washer because the soap scum from the dishwasher could get on your wood and get into the tank.

Remove all bark.

If there are things living in it, discard it or boil it.

hmm... that's all.

:fish:
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A Hill
evercl92 said:
run it through the dishwasher.
Click to expand...
Bad idea... Soap, and stuff...

Yeah,

-Andrew
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evercl92
Fish Newb said:
Bad idea... Soap, and stuff...

Yeah,

-Andrew
Click to expand...
That's what I've done with all my driftwood (store bought or locally collected) so far. It was actually told to me by a friend, who does the same practice. Neither of us have had an issue yet.
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WaveSurfer
Fish Newb said:
Bad idea... Soap, and stuff...

Yeah,

-Andrew
Click to expand...
I agree. Detergents should be avoided on items to be placed in aquariums.

But if it's essential, make sure the items are rinsed thoroughly.
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J
When you run it through the dishwasher, it's not like you put it in with your dishes and use soap!

Evercl92 learned this method from me. I have ran at least 10 pieces thru the dishwasher (obviously with no soap!) making sure that the water is hot and the dry cycle is completed. For larger pieces, I do this a few times. It completely cleans the pieces, takes out all tanins and is hot enough to kill bad living creatures. If you do not believe that it works, so be it but it works!

Only negative is that it does not sink the driftwood but rocks or slate do wonders there!
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T
i just wash it off and plunge it into the tank. seems to be workin alright for me. never had a single problem
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