Substrate change

[JPKeenan]

Depending on the size of the wood and the post you have laying around you can always boil it.

I boil mine a bit bass ackwards. I use kosher salt (no iodine in it), boil it for a while and let it soak while I am at work. Amazingly it seems that the water is still (bath water) warm when I get home. I then boil it in plain water and let it sit over night.... Most folks do it the other way around. The boiling lets the stuff in the wood leech out as well as kills bacteria and other nasties in the wood.

Another method is to bake the wood in the oven. This you do have to watch as it is wood and it will catch fire!

 

[dkpate]

LOL, I don't need any fire. But I will try the boiling thing for sure! Thanks!

 

[JPKeenan]

I had been soaking some of the wood in an empty tank and put it in the oven on 250 for about 30-35 mins and leaving it in there as the oven cools.

Makes me wonder about maybe "grilling" the wood on a bbq for a while too

 

[dkpate]

Sounds YUMMY! LOL! I could build a bonfire outside and use an old washtub too!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Hmmm, jp, i add wood sometimes when i smoke meat, but its always hickory lol

 

[dkpate]

Why have a hickory flavor when you could have saltwater or dirt flavor?!?!?

 

[JPKeenan]

we're gonna be having a good old fashioned driftwood bake-off!

 

[dkpate]

HAHAHAHAHA! Sounds like a grand ol' time!

 

[DragonFish71]

One of the other problems with baking the DW is that the heat can cause it to crack.

I figure if you start a fire with it, you could roast marshmellows and make smores

 

[dkpate]

Mmmmm s'mores! Maybe I will make a fire tonight.....forget the driftwood....LOL

 

[JPKeenan]

I think I just made the ugliest lighting unit in the history of aquarium keeping.

56w (240w comparison of the convential bulbs) of cfl for a 28 gallon tank. This might just set my submerged DW on fire

 

[mfdrookie516]

why the tease??? i want to see pictures of it

 

[JPKeenan]

some reason my batteries went bad.... and still not done it.

Want to run it for a bit to see if the temp gets too hot.... good excuse to watch the Watchmen on DVD.

 

[mfdrookie516]

still, i wanna see it before it burns down...

 

[dkpate]

HAHAHA! Now I wanna see it too! Twirl the batteries in the camera, it might stay on long enough to take a pic!

 

[WhiteDevil]

I had been soaking some of the wood in an empty tank and put it in the oven on 250 for about 30-35 mins and leaving it in there as the oven cools.

Makes me wonder about maybe "grilling" the wood on a bbq for a while too

Negative, even the lowest heat w/ propane sets the wood on fire, I bake mine at 175 for 3 hours, wrap it in foil wet and let it bake, the steam bath helps alot and it sinks alot easier.

 

[dkpate]

I honestly NEVER, ever thought I would ever bake wood in an oven....

 

[WhiteDevil]

I honestly NEVER, ever thought I would ever bake wood in an oven....

Believe it or not, if you get the right kinds of hardwoods and some softs, the baking will release the aroma, I hope you aint got hungry neighbors.

My daugther yells when I bake wood, she thinks its the smoker going out back with some form of animal cooking in it.

 

[JPKeenan]

no the battery when charging says that one is bad. I'm using 1x's so it sort of fell apart on me cause I didn't let the glue dry.... but should be getting it back together during the week and take some pics.... I am worried about it catching fire from the heat.

I love the smell of rocks and DW boiling smells like sick soup *lol*. I had mine soaking and was going for low heat... The foil and wet wood makes sense. I was also thinking that if the wood could fit in a roasting pan to sort of do it like a turkey with some water in the bottom of the pan.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Sitting in water will only lengthen the baking time, it will be too saturted sitting in water, I tried this with a small chunk of mopani a few years back, it was mushy after 3 hours, not good for mopani.

Tuesday/wednesday I am going hunting for oak and walnut pieces to make some new DW out of. The harder the wood the better for steaming, the steam also gets all the moss and bark off and leaves you with a piece of steamed virgin wood for use.