How do I sanitize large "found" driftwood?

[MandyINCo]

I am currently boiling some nice pieces of driftwood at each end that I found at my local river. They are going to be too long to reach the middle in the pot of boiling water, and I really don't want to cut them down any shorter, they will look real nice the way they are. I want to avoid bleach or chemicals if I can. Scalding hot bathtub water?

I need suggestions.

 

[jsoong]

What I did was pressure wash the wood (no soap of course), then put the wood in the bathtub, and pour boiling water over the wood.

If the wood had not been water-logged, you can also put it under hot sun for a few days or weeks. (Totally drying out the wood kills most water borne bugs. But it is a pain to redo the water-logging, esp. with large pieces. ) Some one here had tried using a BBQ on low to heat the wood up to temp. <Of course you have to get the temp just right or you burn the wood instead!>

 

[Endless Ocean in My House]

Well-Did you think of like baking them in pan of water in the oven? Crank it up real high and make it the way you'd make flan. You bake sand before you put it in a hermit crab's terrarium-why not bake a piece of driftwood? Don't take my word for it though -- do a little more research and maybe start looking for aquarium-safe rocks at your local petsmart!

 

[MandyINCo]

I'm trying to save $$$. I lost my job a few weeks ago so I'm on my husbands income at the moment. Not only that, but I like the look of natural driftwood a little better. I'm currently boiling what I can, then I think I'll just soak the rest of it in super hot water in the tub. They're too big to fit in the oven even. Well, too long actually. Idk maybe I will make them shorter just to be on the safe side. Short enough that I can fully submerge them in boiling water at both ends.

Boiling a couple of times should be ok right?

I even found an AWESOME piece of sandstone that I broke up a little into thinner sheets. Boiling that at the moment too.

 

[bob mccoy]

very nice . i would just put it in the bath tub. hot as posible eaven boil water if u can and pore it over the top.

 

[Mikalicious209]

If you have an automatic dishwasher, u could run that once empty to clean excess gunk out, and then throw in the dw and run a couple of cycles without soap.

 

[MandyINCo]

I broke up a few of them into smaller pieces. I think it's Aspen wood (i think). Super strong. Looks like there are some little tiny holes burrowed into them.. bugs? If so, I hope the boiling kills the little buggers. My stovetop is a funny sight right now. lol Two big pots with branches and rock sticking out of them.

I hope this does the trick. It's for my new 30gal tall tank. There are no fish in it at the moment, just plants. Letting it cycle with filter media from my established tank.

It is going to house a couple of Koi Angels and a school of cardinals. It will be "aquascaped" when all the plants mature. I'm hoping my micro sword strips grow the fastest, to give good foreground cover.

Anyway, thanks you guys, I feel better about just boiling/using hot water for sterilizing now.