Driftwood

[RGDoherty]

O.K., the aquarium has cleared up, water was circulated for 36 hours, I went and netted some small bluegill from the lake to start my biologicals. The lake is drawn down and I went and picked up some drift wood, as you can see in the photo below......Here's my question, the plan is to pressure wash the driftwood, but do I boil it in my crawfish pot to make sure I sterilize it before adding it to the tank??????

 

[fishyjoe26]

yes,if it was me I would boil it.

 

[RGDoherty]

yes,if it was me I would boil it.

Thanks FishyJoe, will do!

 

[Druu]

If you pulled it out of a lake, I would bake for at least half an hour at about 500 degrees. Of course, keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't char or catch fire. [Disclaimer: I accept no liability for any damage that may result from you following my suggestion. This includes damage to the driftwood, your home and property inside, and any bodily damage that may arise to any individual.]

Follow it with boiling to get rid of any chemicals. You might want to soak for a while (weeks to months) after that if you think there are pesticides or herbicides used in the lake. The baking is more effective at killing microorganisms because the water will only go to about 212 degrees (slightly higher because of particulates in the water). This should be enough to take out most of the microorganisms, but I always go with better safe than sorry.

Here's a piece that I picked up:

 

[RGDoherty]

If you pulled it out of a lake, I would bake for at least half an hour at about 500 degrees. Of course, keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't char or catch fire. [Disclaimer: I accept no liability for any damage that may result from you following my suggestion. This includes damage to the driftwood, your home and property inside, and any bodily damage that may arise to any individual.]

Follow it with boiling to get rid of any chemicals. You might want to soak for a while (weeks to months) after that if you think there are pesticides or herbicides used in the lake. The baking is more effective at killing microorganisms because the water will only go to about 212 degrees (slightly higher because of particulates in the water). This should be enough to take out most of the microorganisms, but I always go with better safe than sorry.


Here's a piece that I picked up:

Man, that's one cool piece of driftwood! thanks for the advice.

 

[Yanbbrox]

I alway boil driftwood, even from LFS, better to be safe

 

[RGDoherty]

I have the 120 qt stockpot and burner hooked up and heating now.

 

[COLDasICE]

The boiling should kill any parasites, you will still most likely get tannins from the leaching driftwood.

 

[professa19]

boil boil boil

 

[Druu]

The boiling should kill any parasites, you will still most likely get tannins from the leaching driftwood.

Yep, after my soaking, that piece still leaches tannins out... a lot less than it did at first, so it's almost tank ready.