Driftwood help please!

[chris87]

Don't know if i'm posting this in the right spot, please admin move if it is.

Hey every one
Just went for a walk down the river with my wife and kids to see if the fish are out and about. And found a beautifull 5foot long piece of driftwood that looks like it has been washed down river in the rains we had earilier this year. It was resting on the side of the river bank. I'd say its been there a bout a month or so. Seems to have been in water for a while previous to it being wash down river as i say it would only have less then 1% of bark remaining on it. Since i bought it home i've scrubed the remaining fragments of bark and sand off. And sprayed it down with a high pressure hose. Thing is i can't boil it being the size it is. Is there any thing else i can do to treat it befor putting it in my tank? I love this peice of wood and really want to put it in my setup. Please any ideas would be great.
P.s i already tried putting it in the bath tub. Wouldn't fit.lol.
Chris

 

[z400]

If your tank is established with fish living within.... I would not recommend putting the wood into the tank.
Just incase there is anything harmful within the wood, it very well could wipe out your aquarium.


Ive been in the same situation. I ended up buying a large garbage can and soaking the wood best i could.
Soaking it half and half, one half for a week while changing the water and the other half for another week
while also changing the water.

Make sure you scrub it clean, could power wash it as well.

 

[chris87]

Yeah was thinking about doing that in a large bin could work. I've heard bleaching can work to but just can't see how you would then get the bleach out of the wood.

 

[z400]

Ive never bleached any of the wood i have went and found.
Never had a problem, Just try your best to soak it for awhile before you use it.

 

[Jrob]

i never really tell any of my friends to use bleach...just because you can never really tell if you get every particle of bleach out...so when it enters your tank, there could still be a few drops here or there that will like z400 said, wipe your tank out..

 

[dangerhack]

i put mine in the tub an its too long .. after a few days i will flip it around to other side... if its one long 5ft peice with no little branches i have a solution... if you dont mind spendin 20$ goto homedepot... buy a long 8ft pc of PVC that is 4 in wide seal the bottom if something like a peice of plastic an silicone cut it to 5ft size... an pour boiling hot wter down the pipe an fill it up.. let it stand up wright for a couple weeks problem solved

 

[Allan01230]

I would not trust it myself. I have some rarer fish in my 85 including an L-25 pleco so I would prefer not to trust the wood but that is just myself.

 

[buddha1200]

i have used bleach on driftwood,its just a longer process.
i used 1/4 cup to 50 gallons of water(soaked for 2 days)using hot water
then i changed the water and and soaked in plain hot water for a week(changing water every 2 days)
put wood outside in the sun for a few days
then soaked in declorinated water for a week(used triple the declorinator)water change every 2 days)
have had the driftwood in my tank for over a year now no problems.

 

[chris87]

Thanks everyone might avoid the bleach for now though.

i put mine in the tub an its too long .. after a few days i will flip it around to other side... if its one long 5ft peice with no little branches i have a solution... if you dont mind spendin 20$ goto homedepot... buy a long 8ft pc of PVC that is 4 in wide seal the bottom if something like a peice of plastic an silicone cut it to 5ft size... an pour boiling hot wter down the pipe an fill it up.. let it stand up wright for a couple weeks problem solved

The piece is now after measuring just under 6ft long just over 125mm in width with two thick 20cm+ branches sticking out from one side. Off tap looking driftwood. Been thinking about a old hotwater tank.

 

[Gill Blue]

in these parts there are place you can rent hot tubs by the hour. bound to be LOTS of chlorine in those puppies. rent one for two hours and take a hot bleachy soak with your wood.
relaxed and disinfected.
I used my driftwood out of a local lake. I wrapped it in a single layer of clear plastic and let it bake in the summer sun for a week, flipping daily.
no problems.