Boiling wood...

[Helium_Junkie]

Seriously now, how are you supposed to boil a huge piece of wood?!!

 

[The-Wolf]

How huge is huge?
If you do not have a pot big enough then the olny way I can think of
is set your immersion to max and fill a bath with the hot water and then add the wood, periodicly topping up with more water to keep it hot.
not as effective but may just work.
Oh and don't forget to clean the bath before you use it.

 

[Helium_Junkie]

Oh and don't forget to clean the bath before you use it.

lol. Thanks B)

I defo don't have a pot big enough for the large piece I have spied.

 

[clutterydrawer]

two words...preserving pan

(Ask your mother! )

 

[fraservet]

I use a kitchen bin and fill it with hot water from the tap, changing it every so often.
It certainly produces a lot of tannins in the water.
You really need to keep it up for a couple of weeks to get rid of most of the tannins from the wood.

I have a large piece which has just gone into my tank, and the water has still gone a bit yellow.

 

[noelberg]

Hot water and salt and/or melafix usually do the trick with driftwood in my experience. The other method that I've tried is getting it good and wet then putting it into the oven for a brief time - just be careful with that method. IME either of these was better than boiling which caused the wood to decompose much faster.

HTH and GL

 

[clutterydrawer]

why the salt?

 

[noelberg]

why the salt?

to kill bacteria. you don't need to use salt or melafix if you boil it or throw it in the oven.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Hot water and salt and/or melafix usually do the trick with driftwood in my experience. The other method that I've tried is getting it good and wet then putting it into the oven for a brief time - just be careful with that method. IME either of these was better than boiling which caused the wood to decompose much faster.

HTH and GL

I agree. Don't boil. I've ruined so much nice driftwood....well,it's not ruined but here we are a year later and it still leeches.

 

[cutecotton]

i heard this method also works with just regular wood that you pick off a forest or something?

i heard if you take a branch of wood, and soak/boil it in water for a long time and then bake it for a few hours it'll essentially be the same as driftwood?

i'm going to give that a try

 

[Aquascaper]

I just chucked my big piece in the bath and poured lots of kettles of boiling water over it then left it submersed in the water overnight.

 

[David]

Boiling is not absolutely necessary IMO, unless you didn't get it from an aquarium store. You can just soak it for several days in some aquarium water. Of course, some people WANT it to leech, as they plan on keeping fish that require acidic water.

 

[cutecotton]

I just chucked my big piece in the bath and poured lots of kettles of boiling water over it then left it submersed in the water overnight.

did you get the big piece from a fish store or did you pick it off hte ground somewhere?

 

[The-Wolf]

i heard this method also works with just regular wood that you pick off a forest or something?

i heard if you take a branch of wood, and soak/boil it in water for a long time and then bake it for a few hours it'll essentially be the same as driftwood?

i'm going to give that a try

CC don't use green wood, the sugars and starches will kill all you fish as it brakes down in the tank. The wood from forests etc must be dead and dryed out, however this will need to be soaked for around a month so it becomes water-logged and will sink.

 

[Guppylover]

I picked up some nice wood from the beach... I have washed it a few times but I'm still not sure if I can put it in the aqaurium yet.

I didn't boil the wood though... Should I try hot water with melafix?

...sorry for intruding on this post but I don't want to start a new topic