Question about gathering my own driftwood.

[Drstrangelove]

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/pests/plant_pests/shrubs/hgic2052.html

http://wiki.bugwood.org/Archive:Oak

http://urbanrancher.tamu.edu/retiredsite/bugs/b5086.pdf


I've found termites, ants, and beetles inside of logs. Needless to say, fungus spores and bacteria would be harder to see.

 

[David R]

I understand those things in the links you provided cause problems for living plants (thus the tree dying and the branches/roots ending up in the river/lake), but I can't see borers being an issue in an aquarium. As I said, it certainly has never been an issue with the wood I've collected, and the size of some of the pieces makes boiling completely impractical. Use bleach if you're paranoid, but IMO a good clean and a bit of a soak is all it needs.

 

[Drstrangelove]

Well, I'm not paranoid. Maybe, you want risk averse?

And as far as wood goes, how is it not anymore complicated than:

1) scrub and rinse with a hose
2) place wood in a 55 gallon rubber trash can with water and 2 gallons of bleach (5% level)
3) wait an hour, then rinse
4) re-fill with water and add hefty dose of dechlorinator
5) rinse?

To me, it's a very tiny effort to eliminate what could become possibly a very big problem. But I can see people skipping it.