Buying driftwood that's safe

[amyandlars]

There's a LFS that has a established piece of driftwood with plants going out of it. I haven't been able to find any real driftwood anywhere else. How can I make sure this is safe to add to my tanks. The driftwood is a plant only tank. The scary part of getting this driftwood is that I went in a month ago and all the SW tanks had ich, and the FW tanks had loads of snails.

[beviking]

SW and FW ich are two different animals...no problems there. Ich needs a host. If the driftwood is in a tank w/o fish for an ample amount of time the ich will die off. Snails are considered beneficial to most plant folks but if you don't want them, an alum dip will help. The upper right of the (main) screen has a search button that will provide you with TONS of info on whatever you type in (related to aquaria ;) ). Just try to pay attention to the clock. Significant others and/or bosses get upset when you spend too much time "researching" :D

[John N.]

You can always boil the piece of wood before letting it go into your aquarium. But for the most part, give it a good hot rinse and scrub and it should be fine.

-John N.