local driftwood

[Sacklunch]

since i live in seattle i have tons of opportunities to get my hands on awesome driftwood. would it harm my freshwater tanks if i put some of this driftwood in a tank? i was thinking of letting it dry out first and leaving it in my bathtub or something. any advice?

 

[manlyfish]

you need to cure it first

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

driftwood is perfectly fine to use straight from a body of water all you need to do is soak it in a strong salt water solution (saltier than seawater) or boil it to kill off harmful parasites and bacteria. I prefer just using the salt with very hot water to kill off any nasties becuase the boiling water can damage the wood and cause it to fall apart down the road.

 

[syddakyd]

do not dry it out or it will take months to sink. just scrub it with something rough and get off all the "loose ends" and dirty.

me personally, i have tossed driftwood right into a tank with only a slight rinsing. my fish loved to eat all the disgusting bugs on it lol

 

[Sacklunch]

whoops i left out that this would be saltwater driftwood is that going to change anything?

 

[BODYDUB]

So is it salt or fresh????

 

[Foster]

Doesn't most small saltwater wood along the coast float or is that just caused by the properties of salt water? It's too light of a color for me to be intrested in it personally.

Clarks in Bellingham has a lot of nice planted driftwood pieces. They seem expensive until you find a nice piece of dry wood thats $6 a lb. BEWARE they have snails everywhere.

 

[Sacklunch]

they are salt. i found a cool piece the other day while out on the boat. it was submerged and though it would look cool in a 30g

 

[gomezladdams]

Id soak it in fresh water a few days and put it in the tank.

 

[LoganBlade]

okay waht about colorization of th ewater from wood after ou cleaned it? I cleaned mine but it is still browning up the water. Will a few weeks of water changes fix it or should i find a way to clean it more. it is too big for any pot i could boil it in. I cleaned it using hot water and brushing it it a bit. untill it was running clear in the tub. I have a high presure shower head not supper hard but good. any thought appreciated.

thanks