Treating natual Drift Wood?

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PaiLum92

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 18, 2010
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Fort Collins
Seen a few threads on how to treat driftwood, but not much specifics were mentioned...

I live next to a river that has some pretty nice driftwood flowing down it sometimes, i thought about collecting some and adding it to my tank, but not sure how to treat it first..

Ive seen people say to boil it, seen some say to just submerge it, etc etc..

So, what are the real steps to treat driftwood?

Boil, waterlog it, then what? Any step by step directions?
 
1) collect driftwood
2) pressure wash (if you don't have pressure washer, scrub with stiff bristled brush, then hose off, then repeat)
3) boil, if too large to boil - take racks out of dishwasher and sanitize it (no soap)
4) now it's safe and clean. Just submerge in large tub. If water darkens, change every couple days. When it doesn't float any more - put in tank.
This always works for me.
 
I've taken mine to a car wash before to pressure wash. No soap, just rinse. Gets any loose pieces off. Then brought it home and let it soak in my empty 75g tank with Prime and Aquarium Salt added.

I've never had any pieces small enough to boil, never really needed to do that anyway.
 
you live next to a river if there is redwood, oak or any other oily wood then dont use it. other wise its good. since the awesome ones that i pick up IN the river are already water logged i usually just boil them after taking them to a pressure washer at the car wash (no soap). Then i put them into the tank.
 
1- scrub/powerwash it

2- fill your bathtub with hot water

3- dump a bag of water softening salt (morton solar salt) or rock salt in it

4- soak it for a couple days

5- rinse it, soak in fresh for another day

6- put it in your tank.

that's if it's too big to boil
 
What if no tub (newer house with walk in showers), and the driftwood is too large to boil? Should pressure wash/scrub be enough, and let it become waterloged in the main tank its going in? Or will that contaminate the water?

My grandmother has a dishwasher at her house, but not too sure if she would appreciate me shoving wood in there...
 
Kcameron;5102282; said:
I've been wondering the same. I have a large (6') piece that I need to cure. Is there a way to tell if the type of wood is nontoxic? What if the core of the wood is reddish and not dry?

Good advice so far
Click to expand...

if it's red inside it could be cedar. i don't know how to i.d. wood by looking at it (some people do though), i'd cut a piece and smell it. if it smells like cedar or pine, i wouldn't use it.

PaiLum92;5102255; said:
What if no tub (newer house with walk in showers), and the driftwood is too large to boil? Should pressure wash/scrub be enough, and let it become waterloged in the main tank its going in? Or will that contaminate the water?

My grandmother has a dishwasher at her house, but not too sure if she would appreciate me shoving wood in there...
Click to expand...

if you don't boil it or salt-cure it, you run the risk of introducing parasites, mold, fungus, bacteria and algae.

is the tank empty now? if so, use the tank to salt it in.
 
I may be able to go the tub route.. do i keep refilling with hot water, or just once, and leave it alone?

Also, i do have an empty 10g i was thinking of selling, maybe i can just find wood small enough to fit in it? Would i do the same thing with that? i have a can/carton of table salt and aquarium salt (both for the aquarium..)
 
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