SurfCityFish

Hey guys I was just wondering if this was good wood to use or not? I found it in a river basin near my home! Thanks amigos!

enthusiast

Generally using wood found isnt a good idea with all the diseases/pests it could introduce to your tank, but with common sense it can happen.

As far as i know the only real rules to using your own driftwood is:
make sure the wood is LONG dead, it has to be completely dead- that wood looks pretty dead to me and should be safe in that instance
You must soak the wood for many weeks, sometimes months. Wood releases tannins over time that will discolor the water you keep it to soak. I would soak it for atleast a month.

With that piece of wood coming from the river basin (actually, ANY piece of wood for that matter), I would soak in boiling water. Wether you soak that in a 5 gal. bucket, or a tank (depending on if it'll fit in the bucket or not, obviously), wherever you place it to soak boiling water on your stove and dump it in your bucket/tank. The boiling hot water will kill anything on the wood. After a month of soaking (with occasional water changes as the water discolors), the wood would be definately safe to use!

aquarist48

Hello. Here is a link you may find helpful concerning driftwood.
http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/194/

Shawnie

heres another great link in detail Driftwood Notes

TedsTank

It looks like very, very dried wood. I have some in my Koi ponds "soaking"....has been 5 month's and they still float!!! They are big chunks though. The pieces in you pics should soak up water pretty fast. I would get them soaking first, then sterilize them if they get close to sinking....a rock or 2 in the tank, on them will help later. Those will be gorgeous with Java moss or one of the other mosses growning on them. GREAT FIND!!!!

Actually after looking at the pics again, you might want to poor boiling water over them....then a 10% bleach solution and rinse, rinse and rinse tilt the smell oc beach is gone and then leave them out for 24 hours but damp...put them in your tank and weigh them down til they stay on there own. I say this because they are relatively skinny pieces and should absorb water quicker than the large hefty pieces.

either technique above will work fine for you.

enthusiast

y would u ever add bleach to the water to soak it in? a soak in boiling water would kill anything and everything... I've never heard of adding bleach to water to soak driftwood, at any dillution?

aquarist48

Ted, did you use bleach on your drift wood? I would be afraid that the bleach would absorb into the wood and not be able to get it out? I've never tried it so I really have no clue. Just curious. Hope you're doing well.

TedsTank

I only use a light bleach solution as a rinse and only if I get the wood out of our local swamp. If your wood will fit in something or lay in a tub without having to cut it down....then boiling or a heavy soaoking of boiling water will work just fine. Do not boil it in a bleach solution, use only as a rinse. Yours looks like it has been out of the water long enough not to be dangerous.

Out of our swamps and wetlands here, there are too many little thingys...as small leeches etc.....bug larvae that would feed on fry and small fish, so I want to be extra sure existing life on the swamp goo wood is dead.

I'm doing pretty good....do have my ups and downs with my job layoff thing, and trying to find new work. All this fish stuff does keep me busy!!!

I will send pics today or tomorrow of our driftwood piles along the beach here...and in the swamps.