Question about gathering my own driftwood.

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A

adixon816

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Oct 11, 2012
627
1
33
Piscataway, NJ
Went down to the local river last week to hunt for some driftwood. I found some pieces and soaked them in water but it never colored from tanins ect. The wood was very smooth especially around the edges where it once broke. It's to big for the oven so my buddy put it on his roof to bake in the sun for two days. Pretty much how do I tell if it's safe, dead hardwood ect. I really don't know but want to use the pieces.

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if you press your finger nail to it and it doesn't indent then it should be ok wood to use in your tank, unless it's pine. as far as safety goes, you should soak it in boiling water for a bit. since it's so big big get a tote and pour boiling water over it and soak it in that
 
memfish said:
if you press your finger nail to it and it doesn't indent then it should be ok wood to use in your tank, unless it's pine. as far as safety goes, you should soak it in boiling water for a bit. since it's so big big get a tote and pour boiling water over it and soak it in that
Click to expand...

Some pieces were soft on the smaller ones so they are no good then? They were soft and hard under if that makes sense. The big one was hard all the way. I don't believe it's pine but I truly don't know how to tell. I will soak the large one with boiling water.

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'Baking" in the sun will help dry it out. To sterilize the wood, you'll need something like a long soak in bleach or a longer soaking in boiling water. Rinse throughly after using bleach. Organisms will survive otherwise and cause more problems in the tank.

The wood should be hard wood, completely clean and have had no exposure to pesticides. Pick the right wood, give it a cleaning using a stiff brush and a hose turned on high and then soak in bleach or boil it.

Tannins are a separate issue. Often these can take weeks, months or years to dissipate.
 
I'm still not sure what all these mystery "organisms" are that live in rivers and will destroy your aquarium. I've certainly never encountered them despite having collected driftwood off beaches, out of lakes and even straight out of the ground.

Soak it until it sinks, give it a good scrub and/or clean it with a water blaster (this will most likely uncover any soft spots), give it a thorough check for rot then you're good to go, IMO! If you're really paranoid give it a wash with a weak bleach solution then soak it to remove any traces before adding to the aquarium.
 
Drstrangelove said:
'Baking" in the sun will help dry it out. To sterilize the wood, you'll need something like a long soak in bleach or a longer soaking in boiling water. Rinse throughly after using bleach. Organisms will survive otherwise and cause more problems in the tank.

The wood should be hard wood, completely clean and have had no exposure to pesticides. Pick the right wood, give it a cleaning using a stiff brush and a hose turned on high and then soak in bleach or boil it.

Tannins are a separate issue. Often these can take weeks, months or years to dissipate.
Click to expand...

Ummm, I wouldn't soak it in bleach................
 
Wouldn't the organisms die once the wood dries? The wood is firm but like I can scrape a line with my fingernail. I don't know if that makes it soft or not. I do not see or feel rot and I can't just scrape it without a fingernail.

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