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Driftwood that I found laying around has been the best addition to my tank to date Id like to see some pics.
As for prepping it, I would boil it for 10 minutes or so and then let it soak in water for a week. It will probably still float but this will help out.
If it's too big for a pot then put it in a bucket, anchor it down with something, and pour boiling water over it. Bring more water to boiling and keep pouring it over the wood until it is covered and then just let it sit in the hot water until it cools down. The water should be more than hot enough to kill anything on it.
I have always used my power washer. This gets pretty much anything off since the majority of pieces are way to big for any type of boiling. Here is the piece I just got a few days ago. It is now in a blow up pool with some resin weights on it.
10 minutes is plenty to get rid of any parasites. The only real reason to boil longer is to get rid of tannins and that shouldn't be a problem in a well weathered piece of wood.
The longer it soaks the less bouyant it will be. You could put them straight into the tank but it will usually be difficult to work with unless you attach it to a rock or wedge it under stuff like I did in my tank.