Driftwood from saltwater

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Homedog98

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Ok, so I'm at the beach on spring break, and am planning to scout the beach for some "natural souvenirs" for my tank. I'm looking for shells, and driftwood. I know the process on how to boil and soak freshwater driftwood... But is the process the same for saltwater driftwood?
 
It is similar, you might need to soak the wood with regular water changes a little longer to get more of the salt out. How long will depend on how much salt is in the wood. Most of the time a little sea salt won't hurt anything, as long as you don't have any Corydoras in the tank. If you do have those fish, you will need to try and get as much of the salt out of the wood before you add it to the tank. Corydoras are almost completely salt intolerant.

Good luck with your search!
 
I don't know if you can get away with this in your house but I know I can. If the wood is small enough to fit in the toilet tank put it back there so every time you flush the water is changed. Just make sure that it isn't pressing against any of the mechanical parts.
 
joy13 said:
I don't know if you can get away with this in your house but I know I can. If the wood is small enough to fit in the toilet tank put it back there so every time you flush the water is changed. Just make sure that it isn't pressing against any of the mechanical parts.

I'll try that with the smaller piece, and with the larger piece, I was gonna gonna try putting it in a big bucket, fill the bucket up with boiling water, let it sit for three days, repeat. I would do that until the wood sunk or until the tannins came out... Then I would scrub every nook and cranny of the thing with really hot water. And I am planning to put cories in the tank... So I definitely need to get the salt out. Any ideas?
 
If you boil it enough all the salt will come out. I have salt water driftwood in my tank with cories and they're fine. :) Just be careful.
 
I don't know if you can get away with this in your house but I know I can. If the wood is small enough to fit in the toilet tank put it back there so every time you flush the water is changed. Just make sure that it isn't pressing against any of the mechanical parts.

I'm not sure that I would try that. You could be asking for trouble putting it into an environment like that.
 
I'm not sure that I would try that. You could be asking for trouble putting it into an environment like that.

I concur, alot of sediment and chlorine and chloromine collects in that tank of a toilet, heavy metals too. Copper is one that comes to mind first.
 
Toilet tanks are great for driftwood and rock. Every time you flush the toilet, they get fresh water. Many many people do this. I've done it with rocks, but I've always just soaked driftwood in the bathtub.
 
I has seen the heavy metal deposits in my toilet tank and would be afraid to do that myself. Just sayin
 
I has seen the heavy metal deposits in my toilet tank and would be afraid to do that myself. Just sayin

There is also a myriad of bacteria there that aren't in the rest of the house. No matter how clean you keep it. Two of the worst places for bacteria in the house are in the toilet and in your kitchen sink. Toilet tanks are cleaner then the bowl, but are also in contact with decaying rubber parts and metals that would be in your tank. Some of them often leach into the water there and the porcelain is porous, so bacteria are often found residing in the tank and the bowl. If you don't believe me, take a sample of it and put it on a slide under a microscope.

Both places also have an excellent chance of having leftover cleaner residue in them. If it was me, I wouldn't do it, but that's me.
 
Shadowraven said:
There is also a myriad of bacteria there that aren't in the rest of the house. No matter how clean you keep it. Two of the worst places for bacteria in the house are in the toilet and in your kitchen sink.

Both places also have an excellent chance of having leftover cleaner residue in them. If it was me, I wouldn't do it, but that's me.

Not in the tank unless you're putting one of those bowl cleaners in there and the flushing itself cleans the tank each time so it's fresh eac time. Here in earthquake zone, it's considered a reserve water supply for when the big one hits :).

I've presoaked a few pieces in the toilet tank, let them dry out and put them in 2 of my DT's and haven't had any issues.
 
If you say so. I still would feel uneasy doing it.

I was told before that bacteria can exist around the outlets and tank, but that could be wrong too. After all, if it is used as a reserve water supply, maybe it's OK. I personally still wouldn't do it, but I guess that's just a quirk I have.
 
What if I put it in the toilet tank until the water runs clear, then boil and scrub it a lot before putting it in the fish tank?
 
Other people here say it is safe, so I guess it is and you can try it. I'm not the best one to ask about using a toilet tank to clean aquarium decorations in. I'm already biased there.
 
A little salt won't hurt a freshwater aquarium. I add it to mine and it helps reduce stress (unless you have a salt intolerant species, which most aren't). As long as what you find has been boiled and soaked for a couple days in a bucket (with water swapped out once a day), I wouldn't hesitate in using it.
 
The salt from the ocean or salt used for marine aquariums is different than the aquarium salt you get for freshwater tanks. The salt you get for freshwater aquariums is basic sodium chloride with a few additives.

Make sure you get out as much of the salt as possible before adding it to the tank.
 
Ok... Found a really good piece... But it has a few barnacles on it... Will those come off with scrubbing? Boiling? Soaking?
 
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