Do I need to boil driftwood

[SmallFishi]

purchased from my LFS?

[wataugachicken]

boiling will kill any bacteria on the wood, get rid of chemicals that may have gotten on there from the store, and leach out some of the tannins that will discolor the water. it's a good idea, not completely necessary, generally just a good rinse will be fine unless you don't want stained water. otherwise boil and then soak for a couple days, changing water several times.

[SmallFishi]

Great thanks, changing the water is a great idea I was thinking I would soak it but was worried it might mold with the stagnent water. I will change it daily and prevent that.. :)

[legendaryfrog]

i advise boiling the wood. im not sure if this goes for all woods, but the first time i used malaysian driftwood in my aquarium without boiling it, the water turned cloudy.

[Maitwan]

What Causes some Drift Wood to get white fuzzy stuff on it?

After it was Boiled

[CaitxSith]

mold...

don't worry, it goes away by its own in maybe 1 to 2 weeks... or if you have a snail, they will eat it :)

[ratherbe]

I got some malaysian driftwood from my LFS and just rinsed it really, really good. I put it in the tank about three days ago and the water is fine. Fishies really like it :)

[Rallysman]

Make sure that if you harvest your own driftwood it's not soft, and has no bark. It needs to be very weathered before you put it in the tank. Wood that is too fresh will cause problems when it starts to rot. That said, I have never purchased a piece of driftwood, and I have found some spectacular pieces that would have cost me hundreds at the LFS.

[SmallFishi]

Well I was unable to boil it I didn't have a pot that could fit it in no matter how I tried to prop it, here it is in a 20 US gallon Rubbermaid and my dog is pretty big and it's the same size as my dog.
I poured treated boiling water from the kettle on it a bunch of times to fill the bucket, I did this twice it really stunk like the LFS when I did that so i'm glad I got all that stinky off it, the piece I have is over 3 KG dry, it has some crazy designs on it a sticking up funnel part and cave areas in the back.
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/83385/20061228/184909.jpg

[wataugachicken]

hmmm. . . beware stinky wood. a nice woody earthy smell is good, but if it has an unpleasant or sour odor there might be other problems with it.

[SmallFishi]

It smelled just like the store probably because it had been there for a while or something, you know how smells can attach to clothes, wooden chests etc.
It smelled fine after nice and earthy definately not a stinky wood.

[evster]

It wouldn't really hurt to boil the driftwood, but from my experience buying several pieces at petco its not really necessary. Some pieces I've boiled, others I have not, and I've never had a problem with any of them.

One thing I've heard is that boiling driftwood shortens its effective lifetime in your tank. I can't confirm this, but I believe I read it here in another post.

[CaitxSith]

thank goodness I have a giant pot to boil it in :D

awesome piece of driftwood by the way.

and cool dog :cool:

[Rallysman]

Here is the driftwood I collected. It was scrubbed with bleach, power washed, and the put in the tank with dechlor.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=7689

[SmallFishi]

Wow that's amazing like antlers! I love your fish!! What size tank is that?
What is the looong fish?

My wood had a label that says it was cleaned to remove extraneous material! and is ensured to be safe for aquariums but that it will give off tannins.

[Rallysman]

Thanks! The tank is 265 gallons and the long fish is a silver arowana that I rescued out of a 150:)

[SmallFishi]

Gosh that's a big tank I am pretty terrified of the hugeness of my 55 gallon haha.
I love seeing the big fish at my LFS they have a fish that is similar in color and length to yours but it has more of a rounded lower mouth I am not sure what it is but it's beautiful to see them in the nice big tanks that's for sure.

[gomezladdams]

Id at least soak it in bleach then hot water let it sit awhile.
I wouldnt consider a piece of wood safer just cause it came from a store,Id probably be more worried about it.

[wataugachicken]

no need for bleach - if done improperly it'll kill everything in the tank.

[Rallysman]

no need for bleach - if done improperly it'll kill everything in the tank.
That's what dechlorination is for

[wataugachicken]

well yeah, but if you don't use enough then you're SOL. i don't know, i'm not a big fan of using chemicals on anything going into the tank. unless the wood is visibly covered in filth bleach isn't going to do anything. the biggest worry might be chemicals like cleaning products, air fresheners, pesticides, etc. . . and bleach isn't going to get rid of those.

[paramedicthad]

...and my dog is pretty big and it's the same size as my dog....
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/83385/20061228/184909.jpg

:laugh: if you're talking about the dog in the picture... That's funny!!!

I mean cool dog and all, but big??

Back to the topic... this has made me want to go driftwood hunting! Has anyone ever found a large piece of driftwood and then cut it down to desirable size?? (besides the companies and LFS I mean)

[Rallysman]

When I go driftwood harvesting I take a hand saw so I can cut off the pieces that I want.