How Long

[elassoma_sailor]

I have a question,so I went to a river and grab some logs in the river how long should I bake the logs before I put them into the aquarium?

 

[Sean W.]

Don't bake it... boil it in a pot of water for at least an hour and then take a sponge or a brush and give it a good scrubing and then rinse it off, don't use any kind of soap or detergant. And personally I'd let it soak in a bucket for a few days to make sure it doesn't leak any tannins. That's just me, I can't stand tannins in aquarium water...

If it does leak tannins ( turned water brown/green, do water changes in the bucket it soaking in every couple day till it completely stop leaking tannins.


Good luck

 

[elassoma_sailor]

you cant bake the logs? Oh well. Well this is going to be challenging to boil them in the pot, haha...since 3 out of four cant fit in the pots but I can cut them(which I'm got to do since one of them cant really fit in the 50 gallon tank) but their this one log I do NOT want to cut.

 

[mbsqw1d]

do you have a steamer hiding anywhere? as in the ones you'd use to strip wallpaper? As long as the pores in the wood open up and the contents of are cleansed.. any tannins will be caught by some carbon. Although I rely on tannins to lower my PH.

 

[Sean W.]

If you cut the wood especially boil the wood on the end you cut it.

Was this wood already in water when you found it or was it on the side of the river not in water.

 

[Bignose]

I wouldn't even bother trying to boil it. I'd just let it sit outside up off the ground somewhere until it is dried out through and through. No fish parasites can survive being dried out. Once the wood is dried out, anything that could attack your fish will be dead, and then pop it in.

 

[elassoma_sailor]

well one of the logs were submerged but not very deep and one of them was found partly submerged.
Well will just boil them, just to be safe than sorry.

 

[ALW]

I wouldn't even bother trying to boil it. I'd just let it sit outside up off the ground somewhere until it is dried out through and through. No fish parasites can survive being dried out. Once the wood is dried out, anything that could attack your fish will be dead, and then pop it in.

Agreed