Driftwood HELP

that_fish_Guy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2013
2,087
313
122
27
CA
So I have a 240 gallon oscar cichlid tank that I wanted to have filled with driftwood and aquarium plants. My plan was to have large pieces of driftwood then anchor java moss and anubias to the wood via fishing line. I have a question regarding the wood. Due to the expensive cost of wood I went locally and found some nice pieces. I pressure washed them scrubbed them rinsed them again and then now Im currently soaking them in a bathtub with a very mild bleach solution. After a few days I will rinse the wood thoroughly and then re soak in the tub with a good dose of seachem safe for another couple weeks. Im mainly wanting to know if this driftwood will be aquarium safe (not softwood that will quickly decay and rot) thank you all!

DA3344F4-9E09-44FE-9F65-2D7C1BD4AABA.jpeg

5F7CDE0A-DDE2-4785-B87B-494D835BAEA9.jpeg

59F9E0B2-8B79-4F9A-B06C-B64F3C4D0FBF.jpeg

011F2BC0-27DC-4687-A38B-D26E6EBE9FE4.jpeg

B26CA24A-8EFA-41A4-8C04-09F4295CF6AD.jpeg

A3E83D5F-4797-46DA-A5CC-CF7D1BE5C2B6.jpeg

06BDC4F7-3176-47E5-897D-E65BB5B9E91D.jpeg

9D5FB255-6688-4621-911A-C9B5F0188435.jpeg

9F9B99A3-4457-4759-ACB4-F275B363285E.jpeg

E81E340A-356F-443D-A290-734D3BC486CA.jpeg

B4EEFDF0-DC5D-4BD6-909C-8E1EC4B044EE.jpeg

F4AAB919-FB2C-457F-8608-119EF5065F80.jpeg

02E13D56-8D2D-4B7E-8894-562D08E6C40C.jpeg

A7601E89-94B2-43A9-B0F5-1493793A14DC.jpeg

73D023FC-E828-47A4-81D6-5876D03BE7C6.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: tlindsey

FJB

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Dec 15, 2017
1,882
3,193
439
Philadelphia, PA
Several pieces look very nice. Need to rinse well of the chemical stuff you applied to them (soak in clean water), which was not strictly necessary. Some of the very thin pieces may not work (will fall apart quickly). The biggest challenge is getting each piece to sink, and then to sink in a position you like. The first can take a long time, the second may take some ingenuity. Just for sinking, you may need to tie rocks in strategic places; cable ties work well. That is how it is done, or else going to buy large pieces at stores, at crazy prices and limited selections.
Look forward to seeing your arrangement in place. Good luck!
 

Rocksor

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Nov 28, 2011
6,129
6,672
423
San Diego
Wood is like a sponge. Soaking and rinsing will dilute whatever it absorbed. You don’t even have to use new water. If you have other tanks, you could use old tank water to soak it (debris free water). The bleach will evaporate over time plus the water conditioner will remove whatever is left.

Your plan to remove bleach from driftwood will work. No need to pressure wash or worry about the bleach doing anything to your fish.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jjohnwm

TwoHedWlf

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Mar 2, 2017
1,845
2,451
164
45
New Zealand
Yeah, should be fine. But i don't trust bleach given the other detergents and stuff that are commonly put in them.
I've never done much more than a quick hosing off, scrub and then stick it in the tank.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jjohnwm

jjohnwm

Sausage Finger Spam Slayer
MFK Member
Mar 29, 2019
3,784
9,240
164
Manitoba, Canada
I've never understood the obsession (so common among fishkeepers) with boiling, bleaching, blah, blah, blah...Most of the time, that's just a waste of energy, time and bleach.

You have a few decent-looking chunks of wood, fairly gnarled and twisted, and they look like they have been drying and weathering for some time. Bleach is a disinfectant; do you truly believe that some virulent fish pathogen has survived the sun, the wind, the drying-out...and is just lurking in that wood like some weird aquatic Egyptian curse, waiting for you to put it into your tank so that it can re-animate itself and wreak havoc on your Oscars? The possibility exists...almost any possibility exists...but the odds are pretty long. If you are worried about that, then you should probably wear a hardhat when you go outside, in case you are struck by a stray meteorite, or perhaps a frozen poopsicle falling from a passing jumbo jet. The best way to remove bleach from wood is to not put any on in the first place.

I'd soak those dry dessicated pieces in a few changes of water and then blast them with a pressure washer; you can do it in a car wash if you don't have one, just don't use soap or let the wood sit in soapy puddles on the concrete. Soaking will give them a head start towards becoming waterlogged, but you'll likely still need to tie and/or weight them down for awhile before they sink. Soaking will also give you an idea if they are going to release significant amounts of tannins.

If the water starts to look like weak tea, you have two choices. First, you could go into full MFK panic mode and start buying exotic filtration media to remove the tannins, set up a witches' cauldron and start boiling the chunk of wood, and start a few threads labelled "HELP!!!" and beg for advice. Or...the better choice...accept that tannins are actually helpful rather than harmful in terms of fish health. If you just don't like the colour...I'm with you on that one, I hate the way it looks. But there's this interesting and mysterious practice that dates back to the early days of aquarium keeping; it's called "changing water". Hopefully you are already doing this regularly. If you are, the tannins will be removed and diluted with every change; eventually they will stop leaching out, and your water will remain clear. Crisis averted!

Right about now someone will start warning you about certain species of wood containing toxic compounds. Yes, they do exist. If you cut a branch off a Eucalyptus tree and throw it into your tank, your fish will likely die. But that's why it's important to look for wood that is long dead, and has been weathering and de-toxifying naturally. If you are able to determine the species of driftwood and know that it is safe, that's great. But frankly, I never worry about this; an old, weathered, wind-beaten piece of driftwood is something I will use without hesitation; after more than 5 decades of using carefully selected DIY driftwood in virtually all my tanks, my fish have yet to fall prey to a piece of killer wood.

Relax; be patient. If you rush things, if you go out bound and determined that you will find a great piece of wood today, but you don't find one so you grab a questionable one instead...you'll probably still be okay...but why risk it? Driftwood is called that because it is wood that has been submerged and carried by the water and then cast up and dried, sometimes repeating that cycle many times for long periods of time, and that's what makes it safe to use. A close second choice would be wood found in a desert environment, again, old and dry. Don't grab wood off the side of the road, or from your neighbour's burn pile, or from a half-dead tree in the park. That's not driftwood; it's just garbage, and although it is likely safe, there is a bit more risk involved in its use.

Good luck, let's see how that tank looks with those nice pieces installed. But the pieces that look like twigs you found under the tree in your yard after a windstorm? Pitch 'em! :)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Gunfleet

altums85

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Dec 6, 2018
401
664
115
As long as its fully dried which it looks like it is. U should be good. Like other said no need bleach or other chemicals. Only time imo if u need to wash it good is if u got them from a lake/river there may be lots of parasites and hitchhikers that can go in ur tank. But if it's fully dry and cured you're good. Boiling will make it sink faster in my experience
 

that_fish_Guy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2013
2,087
313
122
27
CA
I've never understood the obsession (so common among fishkeepers) with boiling, bleaching, blah, blah, blah...Most of the time, that's just a waste of energy, time and bleach.

You have a few decent-looking chunks of wood, fairly gnarled and twisted, and they look like they have been drying and weathering for some time. Bleach is a disinfectant; do you truly believe that some virulent fish pathogen has survived the sun, the wind, the drying-out...and is just lurking in that wood like some weird aquatic Egyptian curse, waiting for you to put it into your tank so that it can re-animate itself and wreak havoc on your Oscars? The possibility exists...almost any possibility exists...but the odds are pretty long. If you are worried about that, then you should probably wear a hardhat when you go outside, in case you are struck by a stray meteorite, or perhaps a frozen poopsicle falling from a passing jumbo jet. The best way to remove bleach from wood is to not put any on in the first place.

I'd soak those dry dessicated pieces in a few changes of water and then blast them with a pressure washer; you can do it in a car wash if you don't have one, just don't use soap or let the wood sit in soapy puddles on the concrete. Soaking will give them a head start towards becoming waterlogged, but you'll likely still need to tie and/or weight them down for awhile before they sink. Soaking will also give you an idea if they are going to release significant amounts of tannins.

If the water starts to look like weak tea, you have two choices. First, you could go into full MFK panic mode and start buying exotic filtration media to remove the tannins, set up a witches' cauldron and start boiling the chunk of wood, and start a few threads labelled "HELP!!!" and beg for advice. Or...the better choice...accept that tannins are actually helpful rather than harmful in terms of fish health. If you just don't like the colour...I'm with you on that one, I hate the way it looks. But there's this interesting and mysterious practice that dates back to the early days of aquarium keeping; it's called "changing water". Hopefully you are already doing this regularly. If you are, the tannins will be removed and diluted with every change; eventually they will stop leaching out, and your water will remain clear. Crisis averted!

Right about now someone will start warning you about certain species of wood containing toxic compounds. Yes, they do exist. If you cut a branch off a Eucalyptus tree and throw it into your tank, your fish will likely die. But that's why it's important to look for wood that is long dead, and has been weathering and de-toxifying naturally. If you are able to determine the species of driftwood and know that it is safe, that's great. But frankly, I never worry about this; an old, weathered, wind-beaten piece of driftwood is something I will use without hesitation; after more than 5 decades of using carefully selected DIY driftwood in virtually all my tanks, my fish have yet to fall prey to a piece of killer wood.

Relax; be patient. If you rush things, if you go out bound and determined that you will find a great piece of wood today, but you don't find one so you grab a questionable one instead...you'll probably still be okay...but why risk it? Driftwood is called that because it is wood that has been submerged and carried by the water and then cast up and dried, sometimes repeating that cycle many times for long periods of time, and that's what makes it safe to use. A close second choice would be wood found in a desert environment, again, old and dry. Don't grab wood off the side of the road, or from your neighbour's burn pile, or from a half-dead tree in the park. That's not driftwood; it's just garbage, and although it is likely safe, there is a bit more risk involved in its use.

Good luck, let's see how that tank looks with those nice pieces installed. But the pieces that look like twigs you found under the tree in your yard after a windstorm? Pitch 'em! :)
I appreciate the advice and you taking the time to write me up some good information and help, however there was and is no need for the weird condescending comments and remarks on this forum. I have been fish keeping for 12+years and a part of this forum for nearly 10 years..Im pretty well experienced with many species of rare and exotic fish and have dealt with many scenarios however I never harvested wood from a lake stream or outdoors up until this point... This had always been the forum to go to for genuine information from many walks of life and people with different experiences and not the place for sarcastic back handed remarks but I see whats become. Anyhow I thank you for the help and advice. I will continue to just soak the wood change water etc.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store