Is collecting driftwoodfrom local lakes or streams safe?

[Hholly]

Here in Indiana, we are warned to only eat limited amounts of fish caught in our rivers and streams due to industrial and agricultural pollutants. In lakes the water is not as polluted according to the DNR. I would like to collect my own driftwood.but I'm concerned that it would be saturated with pollutants. I'm talking about pieces too big to fit in a pot for boiling. Do you all think it's really something I need to worry about? I would soak the wood, and scrub it.
Thanks!

 

[Jeff6.0]

Sub'd for answer.

I've wondered about this myself. Is the driftwood sold in the aquarium trade sterilized or treated? always wondered this stuff.

 

[adadkins1]

I have collected driftwood from a river about an hour away. I just scrubbed it to remove all the sand and other junk I didn't want going into my tank. My piece was small enough to boil in a big pot on a propane burner. I let it come to a rolling boil and then let it go for about 10 minutes, then I ran out of gas! After that I let it sit for about 6 hours.

I think I might not have technically boiled it for long enough. However it has been over a month and I haven't seen any issues so far.

 

[jcolon]

Here in Indiana, we are warned to only eat limited amounts of fish caught in our rivers and streams due to industrial and agricultural pollutants. In lakes the water is not as polluted according to the DNR. I would like to collect my own driftwood.but I'm concerned that it would be saturated with pollutants. I'm talking about pieces too big to fit in a pot for boiling. Do you all think it's really something I need to worry about? I would soak the wood, and scrub it.
Thanks!

Lakes that are recharged from polluted rivers / streams will have the same pollutants, but some lakes are recharged from rain and shouldn't have the same amounts of pollutants.

If you really feel the lake has pollutants, skip it ... when in doubt, buy LFS DW. Granted it costs $$$$ rather than free but LFS DW like Manzanita, Malaysian and Mopani are aquarium safe and sink.

 

[TWEDM1]

I would strongly advise you do not I repeat DO NOT take river or stream driftwood home and introduce it to your tank.

Larvae and parasites infest rotted and or soaked driftwood. Boiling does remove most pests but years old bacteria still remain.


Driftwood must be purchased new or from another established tank.

 

[jetajockey]

I'm not sure how buying dw from a store makes it any more sterile, apart from most pieces never having seen a body of water, let alone drifted in one.

 

[adadkins1]

I would strongly advise you do not I repeat DO NOT take river or stream driftwood home and introduce it to your tank.

Larvae and parasites infest rotted and or soaked driftwood. Boiling does remove most pests but years old bacteria still remain.


Driftwood must be purchased new or from another established tank.

Granted that there are parasites, bacteria, etc. in the driftwood, I would argue with your point. I am not the only person that has done this before, and I can assure you I will not be the last one. If you boil driftwood you are going to get rid of all the bacteria.

As you see, as with most things in aquaria, you are going to get very different opinions based on who you ask. In the end it is your tank, so you make the decisions.

*Edit: jcolon does have a good point, if you are really that uneasy, go ahead and spend the money on DW from an LFS or online retailer.

 

[TWEDM1]

I forgot about that. They're doing fraking out here for natural gas so all these streams and the entire Susquehanna river is being contaminated with "residual waste" the trucks don't even have a chem tag so you don't know what they carry but I know it's killing the river and stream life because no fish live in the streams just crawfish once in a while. And the Susquehanna river looks dead, we had a major flood in 2011 the river rose 20 feet when it went down I noticed there were no dead fish anywhere. So either all the fish were flood ready and knew to stay deep or in the river path or the chemicals being dumped are extremely toxic if ingested daily.. Be carefull, the reptilians new world order planned population reduction does not spare animals. Peace

 

[Hholly]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'm thinking if it couldn't be boiled, in hot weather it could be dried well in the sun and get rid of most parasites. But I'm more concerned with industrial pollutants. But I guess the local fish survive in that water. Hmm...?

 

[cheese]

i have goten lots of drift wood from rivers and streems and thay have been fine just boil it up and scrubb it down

 

[Hholly]

I forgot about that. They're doing fraking out here for natural gas so all these streams and the entire Susquehanna river is being contaminated with "residual waste" the trucks don't even have a chem tag so you don't know what they carry but I know it's killing the river and stream life because no fish live in the streams just crawfish once in a while. And the Susquehanna river looks dead, we had a major flood in 2011 the river rose 20 feet when it went down I noticed there were no dead fish anywhere. So either all the fish were flood ready and knew to stay deep or in the river path or the chemicals being dumped are extremely toxic if ingested daily.. Be carefull, the reptilians new world order planned population reduction does not spare animals. Peace

That is so sad.

 

[Lowryder]

I have a large piece of dw from a local lake in my tank for about a year with no ill effects.

 

[adadkins1]

Truth is, there are tons of pollutants in almost every stream across the world. It doesn't matter where you are, there is no such thing as a clean river/stream/lake any more. We have had mercury warnings on the stream I collected my DW from, however I do not plan on eating my aquarium fish!

 

[Jeff6.0]

however I do not plan on eating my aquarium fish!

Really? You're missing out.