driftwood

[Paulcm10]

So today I bought a new piece of driftwood at my LFS.
the driftwood is made to be put in tanks for reptiles.
the reason i bought it is because it has tons of holes and would give my tank hiding places.

so my questions are...

1. is this ok to use for my tank? and will it sink? (according to the LFS guy he said its okay for me to use but i don't know if he was just trying to sell me his merchandise or if he was really telling the truth)

2. if it is safe to use, how do i prepare it before putting it in my tank?

I don't have much experience with driftwood or aquariums in general.
So any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[Darklight]

Not sure if they add any additives to the wood for reptiles. But i recently added some pieces to my tank. I soaked them in boiling water on buckets for a week. I changed the water twice daily to release the tannins. I then rinsed them in tank water, added some java fern and they are good. You may get a white mould growth when first in the tank. This will disappear on its own and harmless to fish. You can judt wipe it off though if you get any growing.

 

[Samzter]

To make it sink I would leave it in a bucket, pour boiling water over tue wood to get out tannins. Do this as many times as you feel until the water colour is clear

 

[Convict2161]

It was my understanding you couldn't use wood made for reptiles or reptariums. This is what I've read time and time again. Something the wood being softer and in time will break down.

 

[jetajockey]

I think it depends greatly on the type of wood. Something like mopani would be fine, since it's the same thing that is used in aquaria. Others, like grape vine (also common for reptile pieces) would break down pretty quickly.

 

[abstract373]

you should be fine i have a few pieces in my tank now and there fine make sure there hard wood by trying to sink your nail or a key in if its hard and dont tear up as easy your good i found the pieces i have are sold by tetra but there reptile division and theres not much diffrent in price but look alot better
good luck boil soak and repeat till you like the color of the water remember some wood take a very long time to leach out tannis and not all wood will sink it might need help from a piece or 2 of rock to sink it