drift wood

[Megfish]

Hi
Can anyone assist in telling me what i can do to prepare some driftwood pieces to put in my new Cichlid tank i am about to set up.
In particular the types of wood that are suitable and what we need to do to clean them up if we find nice pieces in the scrub. Our LFS sells pieces but they are very expencive he justifys this by saying they have been treated and tested.
Surely it cant be to hard.
Any info would be greatly aprieciated
Cheers

 

[LoachLover]

First off I'd soak them in boiling water a few times to kill whatever might be on them, I'd also scrub them with a OLD tooth brush to get any dirt that might be on it. Then just soak it till it sinks, then I'd put it in boiling water again.

 

[Teelie]

Sounds like your LFS is trying to rip you off. Driftwood shouldn't be very expensive. Like LoachLover said though, boil it, clean it and soak it. Soaking will help remove the tannins that will brown the water. They're completely harmless but most people equate brown water with dirty water and hate it. The discoloration is going to happen no matter how much you boil it (in fact, too much, it disintegrates) but soaking it will greatly reduce the amount that comes out. The longer you soak it, the less in the tank later.

 

[LoachLover]

Yeah and don't listen to your LFS, especially the chain stores. Most of the time they don't know what they're talking about, they're just in it for the money.

 

[Megfish]

Thanks for the help.That is way to easy i will do it myself.
Thanks