Is My Driftwood Rotting?

Over a week ago, I bought a piece of driftwood specifically for use in my planted tank that I am yet to build.
I can't boil it, because I don't have a pot that's big enough because this piece of driftwood is almost 20 inches long. So, I was told to soak it in a bucket for a few weeks to make sure it sinks and doesn't release tannins in my tank.
It has currently been soaking for 5 days and I have changed the water in the bucket multiple times.
Today, I noticed that the driftwood smells funky and is softening in a few spots.
Is it rotting? I'm super confused because it was labeled specifically for use in an aquarium, so it shouldn't be rotting.
I'm completely new to putting driftwood in my aquariums because the only other tank I had was decorated by those plastic ornaments from PetSmart, so I'm open to any suggestions or information that you guys might have.
Thanks!

 

Over a week ago, I bought a piece of driftwood specifically for use in my planted tank that I am yet to build.
I can't boil it, because I don't have a pot that's big enough because this piece of driftwood is almost 20 inches long. So, I was told to soak it in a bucket for a few weeks to make sure it sinks and doesn't release tannins in my tank.
It has currently been soaking for 5 days and I have changed the water in the bucket multiple times.
Today, I noticed that the driftwood smells funky and is softening in a few spots.
Is it rotting? I'm super confused because it was labeled specifically for use in an aquarium, so it shouldn't be rotting.
I'm completely new to putting driftwood in my aquariums because the only other tank I had was decorated by those plastic ornaments from PetSmart, so I'm open to any suggestions or information that you guys might have.
Thanks!

Picture? Driftwood will commonly get gooey white bacteria eating the last of the fungus on wood. No threat to fish

 

If you're noticing lots of brown crud settled on the bottom around the wood, yeah it's probably rotting.

 

Picture? Driftwood will commonly get gooey white bacteria eating the last of the fungus on wood. No threat to fish

I’ve attached a picture of the wood. Just to note, it’s lighter in some places because that’s just where it’s dry.

 

If you're noticing lots of brown crud settled on the bottom around the wood, yeah it's probably rotting.

There was no debris or crud at the bottom of the bucket, the water was just dark and cloudy from tannins. But, I used my hose to spray it down at the jet setting, and small pieces flew off. Does that mean anything, or did I just have the hose at too high of a setting?

 

There was no debris or crud at the bottom of the bucket, the water was just dark and cloudy from tannins. But, I used my hose to spray it down at the jet setting, and small pieces flew off. Does that mean anything, or did I just have the hose at too high of a setting?

Is hose chewing into wood or knocking off bark? You would need pressure washer to effect good wood.

 

There was no debris or crud at the bottom of the bucket, the water was just dark and cloudy from tannins. But, I used my hose to spray it down at the jet setting, and small pieces flew off. Does that mean anything, or did I just have the hose at too high of a setting?

It could just be bits of bark, but if it was the wood itself that's not good... which brought me realize that I've never seen aquarium driftwood sold with the bark still on it.
Perhaps you could use pot scrubbers or something and scrub off all the soft stuff and there might be some good hard wood underneath.

 

It could just be bits of bark, but if it was the wood itself that's not good... which brought me realize that I've never seen aquarium driftwood sold with the bark still on it.
Perhaps you could use pot scrubbers or something and scrub off all the soft stuff and there might be some good hard wood underneath.

Ok, thank you. There are only some parts that are soft, the rest of the driftwood is hard.

 

Is hose chewing into wood or knocking off bark? You would need pressure washer to effect good wood.

There's no bark on the wood, so I think the hose is chewing out small pieces from the wood.