Preparing large wood?

[paul112]

Well, my local river has been in flood lately, and about a month ago i went driftwood collecting. I found an awesome piece, about 1.5m long, which would go just great in my 55G Red Eared Slider tank.

The wood has no bark on it, and has a 'weathered' texture, so its been in the river for a while. This wood has also been in my room for about 2-3 weeks, so its dry as a bone now (my room is around 30'C during the day, so tuff dried quick anyway).

Well, it has a large 'crack' so to speak, where the wood has split. I can pour some boiling water over the wood and in these crack, but will this be sufficient to clean the wood for use in the tank? Other thana good scrub?

Cheers,
Paul

 

[davo]

Yup. boiling water will kill any nasties. I think 80 degrees C is the highest temp. life has been found at (think). Boil it, scrub it down well, would be fine.

 

[WyldFya]

What I would do is put it in the tub, and boil water on all burners in the house. Just keep pouring it in as fast as possible, until submerged. Let it sit for at least an hour. Then soak it for a couple days in tank water.

 

[evercl92]

Any chance it will fit in the dishwasher? I've had excellent results with the "pots and pans" cycle.

 

[paul112]

So, do you think putting it in the tub with water as hot as it can be out the tap will work, if left submerged for an hour? I could leave it ubmerged over night to let any bad stuff leak out? Then do you recommend letting it dry out again? Also I cant soak in tank water because I can't move the turtle out of the tank. The tank has some aquarium salt in it though, 1tsp per gallon.
Cheers,
Paul

 

[WyldFya]

If you want to use the tub, with tap water, you will have to turn your water heater up all the way. Code levels are not enough to kill many bacteria that can live in lakes and rivers. Turn it up as high as your water heater will go. Make sure to tell everyone NOT to use any hot water while you do this.

 

[HarleyK]

Or pour a few lbs of salt into your bath tub (saturated solution). It's another way of cheap sterilization. That's how I do it.

HarleyK