non-driftwood in the tank

[Qozux]

Title kinda says it...
Can I use a piece of wood that isn't driftwood in my tank? If so, how should I prepare it?

 

[gilpi]

Any particulate piece of wood you want to use?

From my experience, I'd rather pay for a treated piece, less problems later on. Starting out with the "right" piece of wood might help, most pieces I have attempted to treat and use are still releasing tannis into the water and some pieces have become soft where I had to remove them from the aquarium before they start to rot. On the positive side, I have a pleco that loves feasting on the outer soft layers of the wood.
There is plenty of good read on this topic on the net where you might find most the answers you are looking for.

 

[Qozux]

I found a cool "Y" shaped piece on a walk today. So far all I've done is rinse it off and soak it in hot water. It's still sitting in the water now.

I did a quick google search, but didn't find anything. I searched for "non driftwood in aquarium".

 

[gilpi]

Try searching for something like "DIY driftwood"

The wood you found, is it pretty solid and heavy or light and soft?

 

[Qozux]

It's pretty light to be honest.

 

[gilpi]

If its lightweight, most likely it will be soft. Can you dig out a piece with your finger nails? If so, it most likely act like a sponge once in the water for a few days.

Why don't you let it soak in a bucket of water for a few days just to see what happens?

Driftwood and bog wood also have a tendency to drop PH a little so I use them for amazon cichlids only.