driftwood help

[angelojg22]

hi i recently went to lake George upstate New York and found a nice peace of waterlogged drift wood i bored it out and am boiling it now. but didnt want to added it till i was sure it would be safe in my tank. When i was boring it out it did have a funny smell to it could that be the wood rotting? and it probably was sitting on the bottom of the lake for a long time is that bad? also i think it might be a soft wood but not sure what differences looks wise with the hard vs soft.
let me know if i should add it to my tank its for my fire eel
thanks

 

[knifegill]

The smell is normal. If it's been cured out and boiled, it's safe. Unless the water it was from is near a source of strange industrial toxins or something... I don't know anything about New York.

 

[Calamity]

Press your fingernail into the wood. Does it easily yield to a mark? If so, it's most likely softwood. I believe you can still use softwood if there is no more sap present which seems likely since its been in the water when you found it.

 

[angelojg22]

Ok well its soft wood and is there anything besides chemicals that the wood could leak?

 

[smitty03281964]

If you don't want then I do. As much driftwood as i have come across and as mush as i have in my 3 tanks. I have never boiled driftwood and I have never had any problems. Ever!

 

[fwlionfish]

wood underwater doesnt rot. thats why they pull 500 year old trees out of lakes and rivers. if you just found it on the waters edge most likely it is some type of bacteria from the mud it was in.