DIY driftwood

[JoeQuality]

I've heard that you can bake the wood in an oven to sterilize it further. of course it cant be too high of a temp setting... I think 205 deg F was the ideal setting such that you dont burn down your house. (Warning: I take no responsibility for anyone's actions)

Anyone else heard of this?

 

[dorkfish]

There is a new subdivision being built by my house and I see alot of sticks/branches and roots thier whn I take my dog for walks. last night I grabbed a pice and now have it sitting in a bucket of water and plan to keep it there for a month with water changes and scrubbings for at least a month and then a boilling and thorough scrubbing before going into the tank the tank. think it will be safe? I have no idea what type of wood it is as I just grabbed a piece I liked.

 

[YuccaPatrol]

dorkfish,

The wood will probably be safe if you do this treatment, but it may rot quickly.

the best drift/bog wood is wood that has been submerged underwater or in swampy areas for a VERY long time, decades or even centuries. You may not be able to recreate that natural process in just a few weeks.

But if you boil and soak it a lot, you will likely remove anything that could be harmful to your fish. If it begins to rot or fall apart, it will have been an interesting experiment.

I collect all of my drift/bog wood myself and it seems that the best pieces are actually preserved stump and root pieces. I suspect that roots are much more resistant to rotting under water since they are underground and in contact with moisture the whole time they are growing.

 

[dorkfish]

I will be soaking the wood the whole time I am not doing something to it( boiling, debarking and scrubbing) I may not be able to boil it on the stove as it will just barely fit into the tank (10g) it's going into when it's angled two ways. I think I will just empty the bucket it's in and refill it with water heated in a kettle instead of boiling. the water in the kettle boils before it's done so the temp. should be close.