Malaysian Driftwood

[EdgarMedina1010]

I just bought a small piece of driftwood...and i read a couple of articles on how to clean it but can someone put it in faster easier words?? right now its soaking in water....

[fishfairy]

I just put a piece of driftwood in my new tank.

What I did is boil the wood in the biggest pot I had for about an hour and a half. If yours fits in the pot that's great, but mine was too big so I turned it in the pot about every 30 minutes and ladled the boiling water over it almost the entire time. After that I let it soak in a cooler of water for about a week. Some people soak them longer, but I think that's mainly to waterlog it. Mine was already too big and heavy to float so a week was enough.

[EdgarMedina1010]

i was reading this page( here take a look) http://home.earthlink.net/~kaydeejay/howto.html#part3 it says store bought driftwood may not need to get boiled...it does fit in a pot....

[rich311k]

I would boil it anyway, will help to release the tannins. You only need to soak it if it doesn't sink.

[EdgarMedina1010]

it does sink....so just boil it? for like an hour or so? and then let it dry under the sun right?(for how long??) and its good to go?

[rich311k]

Pretty much. Boiling will kill the nastys. If the water turns really yellow in the pot you may want to drain it and add fresh water until it looks less yellow. the yellow - which is tannins wont hurt you tank but you may not like the yellow tint it gives your water. After it cools just rinse and put in the tank, no need to let it dry in the sun it is alraedy weathered if it sinks.

[EdgarMedina1010]

cool thanks a lot.....oh wait but what type of water should I boil it with?..just regular water or should I add something else?

[rich311k]

plain old tap water.

[EdgarMedina1010]

ok thanks for your help 'rich311k'

[RogerMcAllen]

What kinds of fish do you have?

If you don't mind the look, several fish from blackwater environments (neon tetras, some cories, some plecs) actually enjoy the tannins.