Natural driftwood preparation

[Albino Sick Led]

Hello aquarium enthusiast. Recently a buddy of mine and I went to a local creek and collected driftwood. I'm am wanting to make sure that the driftwood is safe to go into my Cichlid tank so that I don't kill my fish. Any links to forums already posted or information is greatly appreciated as to how I need to prepare the wood to make sure it is ready to enter my tank. This is the picture of the stuff we collected, over 100lbs of wood!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Scouser]

Heat treating the wood is the best way to kill off any nasties that are hiding in your wood.

The smaller pieces can be boiled in water in a big pot (boiling will release lots of the tannins too)

As for the larger pieces, you can pour boiling water over them to to kill of anything and soak them in an outdoor tote to help them sink once in the tank.

 

[Albino Sick Led]

What about peroxide?

Heat treating the wood is the best way to kill off any nasties that are hiding in your wood.

The smaller pieces can be boiled in water in a big pot (boiling will release lots of the tannins too)

As for the larger pieces, you can pour boiling water over them to to kill of anything and soak them in an outdoor tote to help them sink once in the tank.

Thanks! i have been reading on here and the boiling water seems to be the preferred method. I have also stumbled upon some forums where people soaked their wood in Hydrogen Peroxide? Have you ever tried this or heard of someone who had succes with it?



Thanks!

 

[Pezzep]

For my driftwood I just boiled it for about 1-2 hours then let it soak for about 4 days and boiled it again. Make sure you scrub the wood with a brush first to get dirt and such off of it. Most people will soak the wood for a week or till the water colou doesn't change but I didn't mind the tea colour. It has been in my tank for a week now and doesn't produce the tea colour anymore. Just make sure to change the water you're soaking it in when its really brown. If you have chlorine in your water I'd imagine you'd have to stress coat the water you're using to soak it so you don't get chlorine on the wood when putting it into your tank, I'm not 100% on that tho causes don't have chlorine in my water.

 

[giffmastaflex]

I put a piece in my 55 and the water seems pretty dark due to tannins I believe, how long will this go on? When will all tannins be out of the wood