Smell when Soaking Driftwood

LeslieS said:

I have been soaking some driftwood for about two weeks and I've noticed a sulphur smell that is increasing this past week even after changing water out. Any ideas of what I can do to get rid of the smell?

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I have also noticed this. I am pretty sure that it is just bacteria on the driftwood. If you want it to go away try scrubbing it really hard. Once I put the pieces into the tank the smell went away.

Mine always smells like a crawfish boil when boiling it. Never noticed any sulfur smell though.

how long has it been set out in th sun? and how often do u change the water?

Yea change out the water occasionally. Maybe let the wood dry then resoak. It smells bad regardless but less so with new water. If you have a big enough pot, you could boil it and that will help the process go along faster. I've boiled a small piece twice for 1 hour and then soaked it overnight in the sink and the next day it was waterlogged... but larger pieces (that couldn't really fit in the pot, so I would have to reposition it after a while) still aren't water logged for me but do become less floaty which helps.

Bacteria building up in the water will smell. I think of it more as a sewer smell. A small dose of bleach will kill the bacteria.

it also might depend on the type of wood and what's on it, when i soaked my wood it smelled like tea... xD

How often do you change the water? I usually change it every day or two and dont notice any smell. Sometimes I get busy, and leave it for days or weeks and then it smells like sulfer. I just rinse the wood and resoak it in fresh water and it goes away. The smell is just from anaerobic bacteria decomposing the wood. I havent tried, but if youre really bothered by the odour Im sure throwing an airstone in the bucket would get rid of it.