Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

[SOULJAA]

Just curious...what's the best way to prepare driftwood for placement in a tank? (FYI: Some has slate bottom; largest piece doesn't).

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

well if it drifted up to the shore then it is not waterloged.
to make it sink right now you need to attach slate or tile to the base of it and then cover that bases with gravel
to make it waterloged you need to put it in water and cover it with something heavy ie concrete block. After 6 weeks or so when you lift the weight off of it, it will stay submerged.

Before puting it in a tank you may want to sterilize it by boiling it in water or soaking it with bleach or alum and then rincing.

Best way is to go somewhere that has clear water and look fo wood that is on the botom (waterloged) and take it home.

[Tiapan]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

boiling will also help it become waterlogged, and remove some of the tannins so they dont color ur water, the other side though is it shortens the life of the wood and it can breakdown easier.

[SOULJAA]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

Phish...what's alum? If I go the bleach route, how long should I let in soak in a bleach/H2O solution...and how long should I rinse/soak it to remove all of the bleach. Seems like the wood would absorb the bleach the same way it absorbs the water and consistently release it into the tank over time  :think:

All the wood in question has been in a tank before, just don't know how recent that was. The largest piece, I know, was in a tank about a year ago until I removed it. I had it sittin' up for a while, but it's been soaking in a ice chest (which only holds enough water to cover about 85-90% of the wood) for approx. 4 wks. I'm really thinkin' about bringing it to the auction (w/ several of my tanks which is in the garage), so I'm just tryin' to prepare it for that...just in case ya know.................

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

The Alum dip is used for killing microscopic bugs. Use at 1
tablespoon per gallon of water. Soak the plant for at least an hour,
longer soaks of 2 to 3 days are needed to kill snails and snail eggs.
For snails and snails eggs a 2-3 hour soak in a stronger solution of
3 tablespoons per gallon of water is a better choice. Alum is
aluminum sulfate and Alum USP can be obtained from grocery stores.
(It's usually with the spices, herbs and pickling supplies).

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

Personally I would not use bleach unless you plan on letting it sun dry and then possible soaking it wit de-chlorinator.

With DW, I usually break out the huge crawfish boiler and boil the wood a few times changing water in between boils and that usually does the trick.

[Fire_chair]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

Somebody told me that boiling it in saltwater gets the tannin out faster. I haven't tried it, but that's what I was told.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

It could but if you do go that route use non-iodized salt.

I have boiled some massive pieces of wood and a few hours got most of the "tea" out.

[Tiapan]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

mmmm tea, sounds good right about now, of course that could be the beer talkin

[blacksmith37]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

Alum is aluminum sulfate, relatively acidic .
I use a garden hose to prepare wood for an aquarium; pretty much hose off any dirt and creatures.
I have drilled holes and put in steel rebar to sink it.

[SOULJAA]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

Thanks everybody. I have heard the boiling technique b4, but was wondering if there was another route that has been tested/proven.

Isn't there also a product on the market which "prepares" the DW by essentially "removing" the tannins? I vaguely remember seeing something like that at the old Fish Depot off of Almeda.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

I don't know of anything that would strip it of it's tannins and if it does I probably wouldn't trust it.

What you can do though is once you get it waterlogged add a bag of Seachem Purigen to the tank and that will make your water crystal clear.

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

A good diatom filter will remove all the hazyness from your tank.

[finfan]

Re: Preparing Driftwood For Tank...

if you already bought/collected your driftwood, than this is a moot point, but maybe for future, mopani wood readily sinks and is beutiful (have had personal experience), from what i read, malaysian wood also readily sinks, another real nice (but quite expensive) is old black wood (the ADA stuff), just my 1cent worth