Driftwood Help

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mrwhite

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 9, 2011
26
1
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Baltimore, Maryland USA
I live in Maryland on outlets of the Chesapeake Bay. I went exploring today on a local beach which is a large river that the Chesapeake Bay runs off into. Not sure if most driftwood is the same or not. I found the below listed driftwood. It is light, dry, smooth and seems perfect. Is this wood safe for my ca/sa aquarium. I will scrub it and then soak it until it sinks. Thanks in advance . HAPPY NEW YEAR!

driftwood.jpeg

driftwood.jpeg
 
I am thinking this will work and be a beautiful and natural enviroment for my aquarium. I will probably cut some of the larger pieces and end up stacking them in some sort of manner to make a really cool natural natural hideout for my cichlids. I will also post pics of the finished project in a week or two.
 
While soaking it, you might want to put in a fish with it, to check whether it's safe or not, something like a feeder, or something you could stand to lose.
And soak it long enough with the fish, so that any awakening parasites have enough time to emerge from a dormant state.
 
I live next to Lake Michigan and pick up drift wood regularly, I sometimes soak it in a rain barrel all winter to water log it and get rid of pests, then when water gets warm, put in some fry to see if they get infected. After I had zebra mussels appear in my tanks from wood I was hasty with, figured more patience was needed.
092.jpg

In the piece below you can sort of see the mussel shells embedded in the wood
021.jpg
 
duanes said:
While soaking it, you might want to put in a fish with it, to check whether it's safe or not, something like a feeder, or something you could stand to lose.
And soak it long enough with the fish, so that any awakening parasites have enough time to emerge from a dormant state.
Click to expand...
Why would you soak it with fish? Wouldn't that give the awakening parasites a host for their next life stage? Wouldn't soaking without any live organisms first force the parasites to search for a host until they die. Then after months of soaking, do a 100% water change and THEN introduce the first fish for long enough to be able to tell if something is wrong with the wood. "Wood'nt" that make more sense?
 
Read what I wrote again. I soak it first without fish, then add them to be sure the pests haven't survived.
In summer, I might add a fish to see if pests are present, or infect, but usually soak for a long time first.
If the piece is small enough, I boil it.
 
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