Is found driftwood safe?

[hurgerburger]

So the other day I was going on a walk with my dog, and she started chewing on this wonderful piece of driftwood. it was the root base of a tree, and I'd love to put it in my 5 gallon. I've heard of people putting wild driftwood in their tanks, but I'm not sure how safe it is. The body of water I found it in is a reservoir, so there aren't any boats and swimming is technically illegal, so it's clean water. The piece I found had been out of the water for awhile, and it had been below freezing, so I don't see how there could be any parasites in it (my dad did throw it in the water for my dog to get, but I don't think that's that bad). What sort of things do I have to do to the wood to get it ready to go in my tank (if I should even put it in there at all)?

 

[DAnCSF]

Seems to me it's perfectly safe... but being extra cautious can't hurt... there all kinds of ways to kill off any hitch hikers, algae. spores etc...maybe something as simple as baking in a oven, to soaking in a bleach solution, etc...my caution in using any chemical to disinfect to is to do a long post-soak before introducing into a tank. Take care and good luck...

 

[2tank]

It should be ?, I have seen a few yt vids with found wood.
This one here has a decent guide for cleaning.

 

[DAnCSF]

It should be ?, I have seen a few yt vids with found wood.
This one here has a decent guide for cleaning.

Ain't it amazing what on the internet these days....;-)

 

[PheonixKingZ]

So the other day I was going on a walk with my dog, and she started chewing on this wonderful piece of driftwood. it was the root base of a tree, and I'd love to put it in my 5 gallon. I've heard of people putting wild driftwood in their tanks, but I'm not sure how safe it is. The body of water I found it in is a reservoir, so there aren't any boats and swimming is technically illegal, so it's clean water. The piece I found had been out of the water for awhile, and it had been below freezing, so I don't see how there could be any parasites in it (my dad did throw it in the water for my dog to get, but I don't think that's that bad). What sort of things do I have to do to the wood to get it ready to go in my tank (if I should even put it in there at all)?

It can be safe, depending on what species of tree it came from, and if it’s dried out or not. May I please see a photo of it? (That way we may be able to ID it for you)

 

[hurgerburger]

I didn't even know it was possible to ID a stump! It's completely dried out, and if there were any parasites in there, they've been frozen. Here's the photo, thanks for being so helpful!

 

[Utar]

Nice piece of driftwood, in my opnion the speices of wood doesn't really matter as long as it is not too soft and crumbling apart. If it is good firm wood you will be ok to use it.

IMHO don't use anything like bleach or any type of chemical. It could soak into the wood and later leach out in the tank killing your fish.
Boiling it is the best way if you can to kill anything that might be bad. Boiling will also help to re-hydrate the wood. This is how I do all my driftwood. You might need to weight down in the water where you are going to boil it. Let it set weighted down in the water after boiling for a day or two to really soak up water and then it should sink into your tank and stay where you put it. Like I said I have done several peices of driftwood this way and never had any problems in my aquariums with it.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Is it soft wood? (can you easily dig your fingernails into it, is it crumbling and falling apart, etc.)

If it's not exhibiting any of the signs above, and its all dried out, I would say its perfectly safe to add to one of your tanks, assuming its dried out/cleaned/soaked.

Nice find to. Pieces like that usually run for $45+.

 

[hurgerburger]

Nice piece of driftwood, in my opnion the speices of wood doesn't really matter as long as it is not too soft and crumbling apart. If it is good firm wood you will be ok to use it.

IMHO don't use anything like bleach or any type of chemical. It could soak into the wood and later leach out in the tank killing your fish.
Boiling it is the best way if you can to kill anything that might be bad. Boiling will also help to re-hydrate the wood. This is how I do all my driftwood. You might need to weight down in the water where you are going to boil it. Let it set weighted down in the water after boiling for a day or two to really soak up water and then it should sink into your tank and stay where you put it. Like I said I have done several peices of driftwood this way and never had any problems in my aquariums with it.

thank you! I’ll do that!

 

[Colin_T]

What sort of trees where nearby?
Chances are the wood is the same as the trees. If the trees are non toxic, the wood should be non toxic.

If the wood was found near a drinking water catchment area, it theoretically should not have any herbicide on it and should be safe. However, some government departments still use Roundup (glyphosate) to kill weeds around water ways even though it's illegal in virtually every country around the world.

Perhaps contact the company that maintains the water catchment area and ask if they spray anything to control weeds around the water way. Don't tell them you found driftwood there or you walk your dog there, just say you are doing a school project about how weeds are controlled around water ways and catchment areas and want to know how they control weeds.

If they don't use any herbicides and none of the nearby trees are known to be poisonous, then the wood should be safe. Put it in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks. Hose the wood off every couple of days and replace the water. Then put it in your tank.