There seems to be varying opinions on how to pretreat driftwood before you put it in your tank. I bought a piece today and will be soaking it for 2 weeks until I get my new tank. The LFS where I bought it said that they used to say to boil it, but that now they say that you shouldn't boil it. Something about it making the wood soft. Has anyone heard this? Does boiling it speed up the process of removing the tannins?
Driftwood Treatment
- Thread starter livingword26
- Start date
havent heard about making driftwood soft by boiling it. just keep soaking it until it stop leaching out tannins.
i put put 5 coats of polyurethene on a piece of drift wood to advoid any tans from coloring the water and it workes out well. you can get poly in a spray can for easy use, wait about 20 mins between coats and 48 hours in a warm dry place to cure and your all set. I also did this with cool wood i found in the woods near my house and coated it with the poly to advoid bad contaninates from getting into the water.
No, it is not. Eventually it will break down and be an issue. Even if it is a marine style.
On the driftwood subject, there are several things going on at once.
Soaking to lessen tannins in the wood. Soaking to help it sink and not float.
Boiling to help open the fibers and release tannins. Boiling to kill bacteria.
Some wood sold by LFS are already pre-treated by whatever means and probably just need a rinse and soak to get them to sink. Other wood sources, may neee the full treatment. Unless you want/need the blackwater look.
On the driftwood subject, there are several things going on at once.
Soaking to lessen tannins in the wood. Soaking to help it sink and not float.
Boiling to help open the fibers and release tannins. Boiling to kill bacteria.
Some wood sold by LFS are already pre-treated by whatever means and probably just need a rinse and soak to get them to sink. Other wood sources, may neee the full treatment. Unless you want/need the blackwater look.
poly is a strong compound esspecially marine grade used on boat decking this is were i got the idea from, using it on my boat. I 've never seen it wear in water, unless something roots or eats or constant abrasion. I'd imagine you would notice unusally wear and inspect it for any problems, but applied at 3-5 coats it is very thick and strong look at any dinner table finish that glossy topper is polyurethene, and it looks deep and that is only two coats typically. Yes it will eventually break down but by that time you'd get your moneys worth out of it, and probly be board of that particullar drift wood specimen. Maybe in a marine setting it dose wear faster, but 5 years on a boat floor it took to wear in spots. I haven't seen any chemicals leech from my drift wood in the 3 monthes its been in my aquarium. I watch my water parameters daily and nothing out of the ordinary has ever been found. If polyurethene bothers you can buy liqiud acrylic in cans and you can typically find it in wood finishing shops/stores and home good centers. This stuff is easy to work with but us a wee bit mess make sure you wear clothes that you don't mind destroying and lay down drop clothes. Traditional ways are time test and work, but for the impacient old fashion take too long and gives way to new ideas.