Sterilizing HUGE driftwood?

[Maich]

Ok so i live near Shasta dam, and i went by there today to find some HUUUGE 60"+ pieces of driftwood, amazing looking stuff. I would like to use it in my 125 gallon Discus tank. How the hell can i sterilize this stuff? I've heard that baking causes it to crack etc, so thats kinda outa the question. Im kind of afraid to use bleach... Any ideas guys?

 

[KAWAMIKIE]

Steam clean it or pressure wash it with hot water. If you can't do that use boiling water and pour it over it scrub with clean brush and repeat. Leave it bake out in the sun till it's dried out.

 

[Maich]

Yeah, but i dont think pouring boiling water over it a few times would kill everything...

 

[TheFishWrestler]

Don't let it dry out or it will take over a year to re sink. Here is what I have done in the past. If you can get it to fit into a large cooler that is best because the insulation will keep the water warm for 3-4 days otherwise use some kind of a large bin.

1. Use running water and a strong bristled brush, and scrub all of the loose material off of the wood. Then rinse

2. Place the log in cooler/bin and fill with hot water. If you have a python. hook it up to the sink and use the hottest water possible.

3. Add bleach. I normally use 3+ cups. Just to kill everything.

4. Soak for 3-4 days

5. Scrub and rinse again.

6. If you are worried you can soak with bleach again, but in my opinion everthing should be dead. So I normally just soak again in plain hot water for a 3 day. If you want you can add prime.

7. Then just pull out, rinse, and in place your tank. Only a one week process.

 

[WeeNe858]

Don't let it dry out or it will take over a year to re sink. Here is what I have done in the past. If you can get it to fit into a large cooler that is best because the insulation will keep the water warm for 3-4 days otherwise use some kind of a large bin.

1. Use running water and a strong bristled brush, and scrub all of the loose material off of the wood. Then rinse

2. Place the log in cooler/bin and fill with hot water. If you have a python. hook it up to the sink and use the hottest water possible.

3. Add bleach. I normally use 3+ cups. Just to kill everything.

4. Soak for 3-4 days

5. Scrub and rinse again.

6. If you are worried you can soak with bleach again, but in my opinion everthing should be dead. So I normally just soak again in plain hot water for a 3 day. If you want you can add prime.

7. Then just pull out, rinse, and in place your tank. Only a one week process.

agreed.

 

[Morganj2]

Don't let it dry out or it will take over a year to re sink. Here is what I have done in the past. If you can get it to fit into a large cooler that is best because the insulation will keep the water warm for 3-4 days otherwise use some kind of a large bin.

1. Use running water and a strong bristled brush, and scrub all of the loose material off of the wood. Then rinse

2. Place the log in cooler/bin and fill with hot water. If you have a python. hook it up to the sink and use the hottest water possible.

3. Add bleach. I normally use 3+ cups. Just to kill everything.

4. Soak for 3-4 days

5. Scrub and rinse again.

6. If you are worried you can soak with bleach again, but in my opinion everthing should be dead. So I normally just soak again in plain hot water for a 3 day. If you want you can add prime.

7. Then just pull out, rinse, and in place your tank. Only a one week process.

i agree, also if you dont feel comfortable using bleach, you could use kosher salt ive done that in the past and never had any problems

 

[BadOleRoss]

Using hydrogen peroxide will also kill parasites on the wood. With the wood being out of the tank I would mix up a 50/50 solution and pour it on the wood. HP can also be used in tanks to oxyeganate the water during a power failure.

 

[Midknightskie]

Just remeber anything you soak the wood in will then be absorbed by it and then slowly relased into your tank later. Kida like soaking a sponge in bleach and then dropping it in your tank. What I did was dig a hole in the back yard and line it with plastic sheeting anchor the wood down and fill with boiling hot water you can set your water heater to pump out water hot enough to burn skin. That on time soak in that hot water will kill everything within the first ten min. then so the wood doesn't tea your water everyday when you get home from work (assuming you work) I would run water into the the hole until it becomes clear again for however many days it takes. Hope that helps.

 

[Sugo]

Is there anyway to know that some of the bleach is not remaining in the driftwood. Im worried that any remnants will poison the tank in time to come.

 

[BadOleRoss]

You can soak the piece in the tank and then use a swimming pool test strip on the water. I am "pretty sure" the chlorine in the bleach is the active harmful ingredient. It will also evaporate if left in the sun. I am just guessing here so dont take this as gosspil. I use bleach to clean all of my filter pads and a good rinse and sun exposure works for me.