New driftwood

[Benji k]

How do I prepare drift wood from the river for my tanks can I just sit it in hot water for a couple of days

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello Benji. The piece should be dry. Take it home and use a pressure nozzle attached to your garden hose and spray down the piece real well to remove any small pieces of wood and bugs. Leave it out in sun for a few days to dry. The sun will kill anything living that may have attached itself to the wood. You'll need to get some larger rocks to weigh the piece down in tank. That's it.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Ichthys]

Just pour boiling water over it. That will kill everything.

 

[Sgooosh]

How do I prepare drift wood from the river for my tanks can I just sit it in hot water for a couple of days

if you are just keeping it with the fish you found at the river it won't matter THAT much if you boil it or not if you keep the driftwood outside
but if you bring the fish and driftwood inside, boiling is a good idea since it will kill critters & critter eggs.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Boiling weakens the fibers in the wood. You can boil it, but the piece won't stay together as long. But, whatever you think is best. You're the head water keeper.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[sharkweek178]

I have a question about treating wood. What about soaking it in a hydrogen peroxide solution?
Since the hydrogen peroxide breaks down after 24 hours of contact with water, couldn't you then soak the wood in fresh water for a day to make it aquarium safe?

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Rinsing the piece with a power spray attachment is all you need. The high pressure spray will remove any loose pieces and leaving the piece out in the sun to dry will kill anything living that may have made the piece a home. Then, you've used nothing that could leech into the tank water.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Benji k]

if you are just keeping it with the fish you found at the river it won't matter THAT much if you boil it or not if you keep the driftwood outside
but if you bring the fish and driftwood inside, boiling is a good idea since it will kill critters & critter eggs.

Yeah I’m putting some of the wood and in my tanks it might be to big to boil but I’ll try

 

[Sgooosh]

Yeah I’m putting some of the wood and in my tanks it might be to big to boil but I’ll try

if it's too big to boil, saw it up and then when it's dry, use some aquarium-safe glue to put them back together so its good as new (but clean)

 

[Byron]

I think this is just asking for trouble. Boiling will break wood fibers apart, causing the wood to rot faster. That is basic, but here we have wood from the local ecosystem, and that is fraught with issues. I know its temping to use wood one finds, but it is a serious risk.

Never soak wood in anything but tap water (the chlorine is not a problem) as wood by its nature absorbs chemicals and they can leech out weeks and months later. I know, it happened to me in the 1990's with wood purchased from a fish store. After a year, I lost half of my fish and it was eventually pinned down to a toxic substance in the wood.

 

[Benji k]

Hello Benji. The piece should be dry. Take it home and use a pressure nozzle attached to your garden hose and spray down the piece real well to remove any small pieces of wood and bugs. Leave it out in sun for a few days to dry. The sun will kill anything living that may have attached itself to the wood. You'll need to get some larger rocks to weigh the piece down in tank. That's it.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

I found it in the river so it’s already sinking but I’ve put it in hot water sprayed it with a hose I can let it dry Abit

 

[Ichthys]

Can I just add that I agree with Byron and would never use wood that came from water either. I only use dry wood found well away from rivers, in woods and hedgerows, etc, which cannot contain aquatic pathogens.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Yes, ideally you want to pick dry driftwood. But, even dry driftwood was once submerged in the river or lake water. Sometimes, I come across a piece close to or in the river or lake. I just take it home and rinse it well and leave it out in the sun to dry. This time of year, the sun is out longer and will dry the piece in a few days. It's then safe for aquarium use.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I've used wood from a local creek. I let it dry, scrubbed it well with a wire brush, then let it bake in the hot, summer sun for a couple of weeks. If I were in a hurry or otherwise unable to do this, I probably wouldn't use wood from the river.

 

[jaylach]

Just as a thought... While I agree with some others about boiling breaking down the wood fibers how about throwing in an oven and baking??