Heat Treated Driftwood...How to Prepare?

pisces70

pisces70

AC Members
Feb 18, 2012
166
0
0
I just bought 3 very interesting pieces of heat treated driftwood (All Living Things brand) from Petsmart. They are currently floating/soaking in very hot tap water in a bin in the bathtub. They are too large for me to boil, but our tap water gets very hot so I'll simply dump the water and continue adding very hot water as long as needed.

I've read that it can take a couple of weeks for driftwood to sink, is that right?

Is there anything else I need to do with heat treated driftwood before it can be added to an aquarium?


Thank you for any help you may have.
 
I don't go through all that for driftwood. To keep it down now get a piece of slate.
 
Driftwood will turn your water colors so get a big food grade bucket and set it in there an pour really really hot water til it's covered and let it sit. It can take a while to stop leaking depending on the size. And u can always set it in your tank and set a rock on top of it so keep it down. It take abt 2 weeks to sink


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
I'm painting the back of the new tank right now, I'm in no hurry. Just trying to get the wood prepared to sink in the near future and I've never used real driftwood before so I was wondering if I'm doing things right.
 
This tank will be an Amazonian biotope or blackwater community, it all depends on the types of fish and plants I can find around here. It's a 40 gallon breeder aquarium, 36"L x 18"W x 16"H.

Thank you!
 
Usually you can press the wood into the substrate, sort of bury it a bit, and it'll stay down. Then your critters will unbury it over time. Or sometimes bury it more. Not sure it will work as well if you're using gravel.

And yes, the tannins will make your water look like weak tea, no matter what you do to the wood. But I think you know that, from your previous posts. Most of my wood has been in my tank since 2008. 1 piece added around 2010. So, I might not be remembering right, but I'm pretty sure that's how I got it to stay down.
 
If the tank is going to be a blackwater biotope you want all of the discoloration that the wood will impart. That's exactly what blackwater is.
 
@SubRosa, you are right. :) I'm not worried at all about the tannins released by the wood, that's exactly what I want in this tank. I'm soaking the driftwood now only to get it started on it's way to being water-logged so it will sink once the tank is ready for hardscaping. If possible, I'd like to avoid having to silicone the wood to anything or have it held down with rocks inside the tank. I selected these pieces because of the unique way they sit naturally, so I'd like to get them to sit like that in the tank, I hope.

I was simply wondering if there's anything else I need to do to this type of wood before I can use it in a tank, to make it safe...but I'm guessing there isn't since it's commercially sold, heat treated driftwood.
Thank you all.
 
If all you want is to clean it, it sounds like you're doing the best you can. Like you said, it's sold with the expectation that people will just drive home and drop it in their tanks. Unless it's extremely buoyant wood, which it shouldn't be since you bought it for aquarium use, you won't have to glue it. It will sink, just let it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom