Cleaning Wood

[DylFunk]

Hey, i found this really cool piece of driftwood that i'd like to put in my tank. i started out by pressure washing it (i heard it helps it not die the water) then i soaked it in a 5-10% bleach solution (i didnt measure exactly). but now that its done soaking in the bleach i cant get the bleach out. i tried soaking it in pure water for a couple of hours but it still smells like bleach. i'm going to try letting it sun-dry but i'm not sure it will work. please help me figure out how to get the bleach off.

 

[Brunnen-G]

If your willing to take the risk (as you can never be sure that all the bleach is gone) I would:

1) Pressure wash it again.
2) Boil it in water for at LEAST 30 minutes.
3) Let it soak in a bucket of clean water for at LEAST a week, changing the water daily.

The more you soak it the better, but you must be aware that regardless of what you try, if you put it in the tank, it still may leech bleach into your tank.

Good luck, whatever you decide

 

[DylFunk]

yeah, the only problem with your solution is that its a huge piece of wood. thats why i didnt just boil it in the first place.

 

[Riley]

a long time ago my turtle died and i wanted to put fish in his tank so to kill the bacteria and stuff i soaked it in bleach for an hour then after words i soaked it in vinager for a hour to kill the bleach and my fish were fine afterwords. And it wasn't just me having that idea it was the pet store employee that told me to try it . So try soaking it in vinager it should work

 

[TheeMon]

hey heres an idea, feeder fish are like what 8cents a peice? after you do all that good junk they said go and buy a dozen and throw in the bucket of clean water with your wood, if they live well its safe(i guess) ifnot i guess keep trying

 

[Phantom Thief]

Bleach is an alkali i think, which is why vinegar neutralises it.

P.T.

 

[Opcn]

Vineegar might serve to break down the outtermost cells of the wood which would be storeing the chlorine.

 

[DylFunk]

thanks guys i'll try vinegar

 

[Tednol]

i did something with mine. i didnt fetch all of it of but it made it look gr8.

get kitching foil. screw it up into a ball and scrub. i fetched some wood off but i made it look gr8