Driftwood...

[kuzyaburst]

So I was just walking around looking for some cool stuff in the woods and found this sexy looking piece of driftwood! It's a little dirty and I don't want my tank to get filthy... How do I get it cleaned up and put it in my tank. I was thinking of filling up my 10g laying around with 15% of my main tank's water combined with other water and let it get soaked and cleaned up, becuase for all I know it might have some kind of disease and I don't want it getting into my tank! So yeah any tips on I guess "Acclimating" this driftwood would be nice thanks!

 

[Alasse]

Give it a scrub, pour boiling water over it, make sure most if not all of the bark is off it. Then its just a case if letting it get waterlogged and leach tannins

 

[BiggTexx]

Adding to what Alasse mentioned, make sure to inspect it for any rotting areas.  These will need to be removed r thoroughly scrubbed with a stiff brush to remove any debris and reach 'solid' wood.
 
The fun part is getting them waterlogged.  I had one piece in particular take over 30 days to take on enough water just to hold itself under.

 

[Byron]

And a couple more things...make sure the wood is completely dry, by which I mean dead with no sap/moisture all the way through.  Any liquid in the wood will leech out in time.  And this also goes for toxins.  If the wood came from a true forest as you stated, presumably it has not been exposed to machinery, roads, pesticides, etc.  And make sure it is true hardwood, not softwood (conifers are soft, never use this).  Oak, beech, maple are examples of hardwoods.
 
Byron.

 

[Antinerf]

Lol "I was walking around looking for some cool stuff in the woods" doesn't end well a lot of the time for aquarists
 
In all seriousness though, I don't have any real experience with driftwood- I suppose scrubbing and waterlogging, then? Another thing that you may want to do is make it more of a central-theme piece (kinda spitballing ideas at this point)- you know, making holes for fish to swim through and such.