how long to boil a stick

[CompMage]

Ok, a new 5G hex tank, I want to make it look nice, planted tank, 6500K CF light..bla bla bla...

Anyways, I got a great looking tree branch that I know has been dead for some time, all dried up.. Looks to have stayed fairly dry. I've inspected it for bugs and do to it's location I'm sure no chemicals have gotten on it past what will fall from the sky. SO.... How long do I need to boil this stick for before I can safely put it in my tank, or would I be best to go and pay for a stick at the LFS. Sorry but it just seems silly to me to pay for something I can get off the ground.

The wood looks like oak or maple Deffently one of them trees with HUGE leafs and hard wood this thing was hard to cut down to size.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I would say 5-10 minutes....

 

[tropicfishman]

yeah a good 5- 10 minute boil should kill off anything living in or on it, and I agree it is silly to buy something when you can just pick it up, I went to the river ( ohio ) and saw some sweet looking driftwood but theres no way I would even touch it lol

 

[DeFeKt]

how long to boil a stick

How long is a piece of string?

 

[aquakev]

ten min would kill anything living in a stick. also, the heated water will remove some of the tannins(the things that turn your water brownish color). I have always found my own woo to put in my tanks and usually soak them repeatedly in hot water for long perioods of time to release the tannins. but all the wood I have used is fairrly large, like pieces of branches.

 

[newfound77951]

I boiled up some driftwood I found on the beach recently, 10 min should do it; the longer you boil it the faster it will sink, too. If the water that you're boiling it in turns brown then I would keep changing the water and boiling until the color isn't that noticeable unless you want a brown fishtank. If it's an oak branch that might take a while.