Burnt Driftwood

[smooth]

I bought some african root driftwood for my royal pleco and accidentally let the water boil out of the pan. Now most of the wood is burnt.

I can see some brown on the top of the wood. Is this going to be harmful to the water or my plecos?

 

[QTOFFER]

Check back here and see what the consensus is, but I don't think this should be too much of a problem.
After all, the charcoal that many of us put in our filters is nothing but a burnt wood product (usually coconut husk).
The main problem I would anticipate is aesthetic - you may have some charcoal dust when you put the wood in, but that should clear up fast.

I would sand or whittle off as much of the burnt area as possible so that your pleco can benefit from the wood beneath. He probably would not like the taste of burnt wood! If it's really burnt badly and looks ugly after sanding, you may opt to get another piece.

 

[smooth]

Thanks for the reply.

There isn't much left to whittle, LOL.

The entire bottom is black but I was able to salvage the tops of the two larger pieces. Actually, I'm thinking the black edges with the dark brown tops is a nice two-tone. Call me crazy or call me trying to make the best of a ridiculous situation

I just wanted to make sure it isn't going to harm anyone. I thought of the charcoal aspect, but I didn't know if the pleco might be harmed. He doesn't usually suck on my filter But he's probably smarter than me in this regard, guess he won't suck on the black edges!

 

[QTOFFER]

A watched pot never boils, but an unwatched pot burns!