How can you tell if a piece of driftwood is bad?

[doctorp]

I picked up a small piece of driftwood from my LFS recently and did the normal boil and soak in a bucket. After letting it soak for a week I went back to it and was trying to clean it again with a plastic scraper. There was a large quantity of fibers coming off it which I haven't had with my other pieces of driftwood. When the piece is just sitting in a bucket nothing happens, it's only when it gets a good rubbing that fibers come off.

Does this mean it's probably rotting too much and shouldn't be put in the tank?

 

[Zagz]

It should be fine. The wood gets soft in the bucket, and if you scrape it with a plastic scraper it probably would lose fibers. Is it still leaking tannins? Why do you need to scrape it?

 

[doctorp]

No real tannins as a week in the bucket left only minimal color in the water. I was scraping it to make sure it was nice and clean. This seems to be a different type of driftwood than my other pieces which are very, very hard in comparison.

 

[hulkamaniac]

Generally speaking, driftwood you get at the LFS is fine. They've got a vested interest in not killing your fish. Stuff you find outside I wouldn't trust.

 

[Zagz]

I have never scraped driftwood. I have noticed that occasionally when I bump my malaysian driftwood, small particles will float off.

 

[doctorp]

I think there's something wrong with this piece... as soon as I submerged it in my tank a ton of particle came off it very different than any of the other 3 pieces I have. It's going back to the LFS...

 

[Shelby_Tempo_GT]

generally, you can tell driftwood is going bad when it starts staying out all night, riding a motorcycle and wearing leather.

 

[kickeralpine]

i had a big piece in my tank i boiled it over and over got all the tea out i soaked it for allmost 6 mouths and it still wouldnt sink so when i resealed my tank i siliconed it down. well after 3 mouths in the tank it started to lifted up so i removed it the screws they had in it holding it to the slate plate where rusted and black . well one big piece was coming off so i broke it off the rest of the way . AND OMG THE SMELL THAT CAN OUT OF THE DRIFTWOOD WAS SOMTHING I HOPE NEVER TO SMELL AGAIN . its in the trash now think they sold me a peice that was for reptiles not fish. and my fish would not really go near it anymore so i knew somthing was wrong my ottos use to be allover it well they stoped that they must have smelled it . so i glad i removed it i like the look of driftwood but now i scared to buy more due to the smell that came out of it and the way it didnt sink.

 

[tropicfishman]

why buy it? theres millions of tons o fthat stuff in your local lake and river....you can find some awesome pieces there. as long as you boil them real good your fine, the ehat kills off any kind of parasite or bacteria that may be on it...best part is its free!