Driftwood

[Starkey]

Yesterday while on Lake Erie I found some interesting pieces of drift wood I want to add to my tank, and well what is the best way to clean it??

 

[tropicalmackdaddy]

Scrub it, boil it, then let it sit in a bucket full of water if its not waterlogged. That can take months.

 

[Starkey]

These are all ready waterlogged, soaking is the months part correct?

 

[tropicalmackdaddy]

These are all ready waterlogged, soaking is the months part correct?

Yep. If its already waterlogged your good to go, but id still give it a good scrub and boil it to kill any critters. Dont use soap thought. If ots to big to boil id run a hot bath and soak it in that for awhile

 

[Chiz]

Yep. If its already waterlogged your good to go, but id still give it a good scrub and boil it to kill any critters. Dont use soap thought. If ots to big to boil id run a hot bath and soak it in that for awhile

If the OP doesn't mind, can I jump in with a quick question about this that I'm having trouble with? What if you have some wood (I grabbed some Manzanita from near my house) that you want to use, but it is too big to boil or bake in the oven? Once I scrub all the bark, dirt, and other crap off, if I just leave it out in the sun for a couple days, will that be enough to sterilize it? Then I would just soak it in a bin after that, I assume.

 

[Starkey]

Thanks for the advice! And I'd say If it was too big soak it in hot water in your tub.

 

[tropicalmackdaddy]

If the OP doesn't mind, can I jump in with a quick question about this that I'm having trouble with? What if you have some wood (I grabbed some Manzanita from near my house) that you want to use, but it is too big to boil or bake in the oven? Once I scrub all the bark, dirt, and other crap off, if I just leave it out in the sun for a couple days, will that be enough to sterilize it? Then I would just soak it in a bin after that, I assume.

Yep I would do that, and run a hot bath to be sure. Remove anything that would rot in the aquarium, so small very thin branches will probably eventually rot away

 

[Chiz]

Thanks! I didn't even think about using the tub.