Boiling Driftwood?

[DragonLass]

Hey all, I have a piece of driftwood I have been soaking for about 2 weeks now. It is still not sinking, and I have read that boiling it might be a good idea.
Question is, how exactly is this accomplished? I am assuming it is just on a stovetop, but as the biggest pot I own is too small to fit my piece of wood in, is there another practical way of doing it?
Or am I going to need to go out and buy myself a big cheap stockpot?

 

[Luke_e]

Get a bigger pot, neither of my bogwood had problems with sinking, it was like led. Only needed to soak it for 3 days each.

 

[Bloo]

Take care when boiling - if you are able to find a couldron large enough even.
Depending on the wood, you really shouldn't have it on boil for more than 15 minutes. I've found that the wood starts expanding and just leaches more tannins ! on top of starting to disintegrate over time.

Best is to just soak it in hot water for a few weeks (daily 100% changes) and plonk it in your tank. Adding some carbon might help to clear any tinge to the water, but this should really start to get less over time.

Try tying it down to a large rock. After a couple of months it should be fine to stay down on it's own.

Last resort is to ask your lfs to chuck it into one of their ponds (if they have coldwater fish) for a couple of months. Problem solved lovely piece of primed wood !

 

[jimbooo]

yeah i agree with bloozoo2, i've never boiled bogwood just soak for a week or 2 depending on size. all mine sank immediatly. boiling will just weaken it i've never understood why people do this (apart from the steralising part).

dont wash for a week and put it in the bath tub. easy to change water in there and you can get it really hot from the tap. just change the water every day or whenever it gets too cloudy. if it's floating put something heavy on top while it's in the bath.

 

[DragonLass]

yeah i agree with bloozoo2, i've never boiled bogwood just soak for a week or 2 depending on size. all mine sank immediatly. boiling will just weaken it i've never understood why people do this (apart from the steralising part).

dont wash for a week and put it in the bath tub. easy to change water in there and you can get it really hot from the tap. just change the water every day or whenever it gets too cloudy. if it's floating put something heavy on top while it's in the bath.

Ahh you're a genius! I didn't think of using the bathtub, that will certainly be very convenient as nobody in my house really uses it. Then I can just keep changing the water to hot water.
I think my problem is that my piece is very chunky, so it is taking quite some time for it to get fully waterlogged. I will just have to have patience

 

[newfishaddict]

Hey all, I have a piece of driftwood I have been soaking for about 2 weeks now. It is still not sinking, and I have read that boiling it might be a good idea.
Question is, how exactly is this accomplished? I am assuming it is just on a stovetop, but as the biggest pot I own is too small to fit my piece of wood in, is there another practical way of doing it?
Or am I going to need to go out and buy myself a big cheap stockpot?

Hi, I have had many pieces of "bogwood" that was so heavy it sank immediately. I recently bought 4 pieces of "driftwood" that looked exactly like my "bogwood" but was lighter; the lighter driftwood didn’t sink, ever! I soaked it for 5 weeks, of which it was weighted to make it sink for weeks. I finally just put it in my tank half covered with substrate, it looks great and has stayed down for 3 weeks now....

Addict

 

[Griz]

I would still suggest pouring lots of boiling water over the wood before putting it into the tank just as a precaution. This also seems to help it to sink. Use fishing line and tie it to a rock.

 

[consp]

All the bits of wood I've evr used are too big so...

I'm lucky enough to ahve my own bath which I've used for a few bits. I left them in there and filled it up with hot hot hot water... Leave them in there over night... then the bathroom is dripping wet from where everything evapourates and condenses on the ceiling... Not a wise idea if you fancy people using your bathroom.

I'm currently nsoaking two large bits of wood in my garden... I've found a couple of plastic storage tubs and gone back and forth with a kettle... Well I started to but that was way too much effort (and wasted too much engery ) so opted for hot tap water.

Hopw this helps

 

[Lateral Line]

On 2 of the downpipes from the roof at the house, there are big barrels which collect the rainwater for use in the garden. I chuck bogwood in those barrels and leave it there until I need it.