how to treat treat driftwood?? help asap

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bassinmike85

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Jul 10, 2010
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California
i got driftwood for the pier by my house and its from saltwater..how can i treat it to put it in freshwater?? right now i'm soaking it in a 10 gallon ice chest with 1 cap full of bleach..
 
I have been told boiling it works great. But I don't know how much it would do for wood coming from saltwater, can't hurt though
 
I pull wood from saltwater all the time here, but it far more important to identify what kind of wood it is. Here in the Northwest it's likely, if it's in saltwater, and SUNK, to be waterlogged pine, douglas fir (not a true fir; it's own species), or arbutus.

I don't even worry about it. In it goes. Any marine worms that dare show their head the Oscar gets anyway. But I wouldn't do that if I had $1,000 fish!

Down where you are you've got lots of redwood. I wouldn't try an oily wood like cedar. Too many oils.

Boiling is good. Bleach for what and why? Bleach kills, all right. It kills fish.
 
just regular bleach i got them soaking in water and 3 drops of bleach..just overnight..tomorrow take them out rinse em out then soak them in boiling hot water do that a few times then dry them out in the sun then after that soak them in regular water for 2-3 days..
 
I boiled mine.

Pro tip: Don't boil driftwood in your house. It'll smell the place up for days.

I boiled mine in a 55 gallon barrel cut on the side to make a tub. I propped it up on some cinder blocks and burned massive amounts of pine straw and wood under it until it boiled for a good 20 minutes.

Edit: I cut it similarly to this, but with a little wider opening. I suppose you could use propane and a burner like this guy has set up beneath his barrel. I'm cheap, though, so I used free yard debris. :D

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The change from salt to fresh on its own will kill most of the organisms on the driftwood. Just give it a good rinse with a garden hose to get the debris off and put it in the tank.
 
i think if you soak and rinse very well and then let it sundry for 2-3 days. i dont like using bleach unless i have to because it can soak in and can discolor the wood
 
i took it out the bleach water long time ago..i poured hot bioling water in with the wood letting soak for 45 mins until water cools then do it again the soak it in warm water all night then rinse it off tomorrow and then sun dry it for 3 days..
 
Boil it if you have a big enough pot. I've also run mine through the dishwasher multiple times (no soap of course).
 
boil, wash, dry, and repeat 3 times
is what i do
 
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