How to sterilize driftwood

[GodFan]

Ok last thread lol I have been posting asking how to know if found wood is safe and I am pretty sure I got it now.
Now how to prep it for its time in the tank! I have a few pieces from a lake. Kinda brittle in some places but nice. How do I prep? One was partially buried Nd he others were just sunk.
The plan was first to rinse and lightly scrub. I gotta peel the bark of parts of one and try to get the sand out of all the crevices. Then I was going to place the pieces in a large bucket and pour boiling water on them.
So questions are as follows:
1. How many times should I pour boiling water on it and how long should I soak it? (I kinda need it to be quick as the boss doesnt want a bucket of driftwood and water in her yard....)
2. Any tips on rinsing?
3. Any tips on cutting and then hiding the cut lines? I want it to look as natural as possible.
4. Will tbis be enough?
5. What to watch out for once it is in the tank?

Thanks in advance and God bless!

 

[Deepblue02]

I got some driftwood and soaked it in water for a week, then i dried it out for about a week so that any water-born bacteria don't survive and then i soaked it again, the stuff turns water brown at first, so if you dont soak it this would go in your tank, but it shouldn't once soaked. Boiling water should kill most stuff off, and if you put it in and it looks like its doing something bad, take it out and do a water change. Just think, if your fish were wild and a but of driftwood came floating along and killed them all due to some chemical, there wouldn't be many fish in the world. I think the biggest danger is to the tanks aesthetics rater than the fish, but its better to be safe than sorry!

 

[GodFan]

I got some driftwood and soaked it in water for a week, then i dried it out for about a week so that any water-born bacteria don't survive and then i soaked it again, the stuff turns water brown at first, so if you dont soak it this would go in your tank, but it shouldn't once soaked. Boiling water should kill most stuff off, and if you put it in and it looks like its doing something bad, take it out and do a water change. Just think, if your fish were wild and a but of driftwood came floating along and killed them all due to some chemical, there wouldn't be many fish in the world. I think the biggest danger is to the tanks aesthetics rater than the fish, but its better to be safe than sorry!

Cool thanks! I am gonna try to prep it and add it today! Just gotta figure out which piece....

 

[flitabout]

I boil mine in a water bath canner for around 3-4 hours, or you could bake it at around 250F for 5-6hours. They only issue with baking the wood is then you have to soak it forever and a day to get it to sink again. After boiling I would still soak it for a while. The piece of myopani that I bought I boiled for 4 hours to stop the tannins leaching. It worked great for that. But it still leached this oozy white goo. I have heard people say that it was a fungus. I don't see a fungus making it through the boiling. So I am thinking it is some type of sap. I think it was killing off my swords and platies when they ate it. But it didn't seem to bother my cardinals but I don't think they were eating it like the livebearers were.
I just wanted to let you know what could happen. Not that it will. Honestly I am way more comfortable with wild found dw. You know that it has been in water for an extended period of time so that you won't end up with funky things leaching out of it and the boiling/baking should be enough to kill any bacteria and bugs that are in there.

 

[GodFan]

I boil mine in a water bath canner for around 3-4 hours, or you could bake it at around 250F for 5-6hours. They only issue with baking the wood is then you have to soak it forever and a day to get it to sink again. After boiling I would still soak it for a while. The piece of myopani that I bought I boiled for 4 hours to stop the tannins leaching. It worked great for that. But it still leached this oozy white goo. I have heard people say that it was a fungus. I don't see a fungus making it through the boiling. So I am thinking it is some type of sap. I think it was killing off my swords and platies when they ate it. But it didn't seem to bother my cardinals but I don't think they were eating it like the livebearers were.
I just wanted to let you know what could happen. Not that it will. Honestly I am way more comfortable with wild found dw. You know that it has been in water for an extended period of time so that you won't end up with funky things leaching out of it and the boiling/baking should be enough to kill any bacteria and bugs that are in there.

Thanks! I found this in a lake so hopefully no sap or anything! Its to big to boild or bake. I hoor it doesnt float though since it dried over night....

 

[GodFan]

So the driftwood had eggs on it.... I gkt as much off as I could and I will be pouring boiling water all over it.

 

[GodFan]

So here it is! Thoughts?

 

[bob mccoy]

looks great buddy

 

[GodFan]

looks great buddy

Thanks! I am thinking about making it an african biotope now! (With one asian fish....lol)

 

[bob mccoy]

that would be cool. i want to see pics when its done

 

[GodFan]

that would be cool. i want to see pics when its done

Sure thing. Although I cant find any cool african fish to use so I dont know about he biotope....