The Never Ending Quest For 'good Wood' ....

[MoreCoffee]

I'm sure I'm not the only person who buys nice looking bits of bogwood even if I have no immediate use for it
and I'm sure I'm not the only person who struggles to find 'the right piece'.

I recently saw some beach driftwood, if I wanted to use this in my freshwater tank, what would be the best way to ensure it doesnt leech anything out into the tank.

I'm already soaking it (and plan to soak if for about 3 or 4 weeks), does it need boiling or even baked in an oven before it would be safe ?

Anybody got any experience/advice ..... it's a really nice bit of wood and I'd love to be able to use it !


Thanks
Mr G

 

[Bloo]

I would imagine it should be just fine - soaking in hot water certainly releases some tannins. But being driftwood, it probably leached a lot in the sea already so shouldn't require too much. I generally don't like the idea of boiling and especially baking - as it certainly damages the wood structure to some extent.

 

[oldwhitewood]

What I kept doing is keeping my wood in a big plastic container and filling it with hot water from the tap, this IMO increased the tanin leaching but not as messy as getting a huge pot on your stove and boiling it. This was with wood purchased from a shop though.

Your driftwood might have critters in it and dodgy bits, so I would say a good soak for a good few weeks as you are already doing.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Thanks Bloo,

If there is one person on this forum that I should have expected an answer from (about bogwood), it would have been you

It's really well bleached out and no outward signs of contamination (oil/tar etc).
I'll just continue soaking it until I really need it (in about a month), now if I can just find a few matching pieces, I'll be happy !

 

[Bloo]

lol good luck finding some more I'm sure it will be fine. Thing is, unless the wood is nuked to death (well then it would be like charcoal anyway) one will never get rid of nasties if they are there in the first place. Apart from the obviously creepy crawly kind that's visible to the naked eye.
I would say whenever you're happy that the water doesn't turn a deep brown on a daily basis when soaking in hot water, you can put it in your tank

 

[MoreCoffee]

What I kept doing is keeping my wood in a big plastic container and filling it with hot water from the tap, this IMO increased the tanin leaching but not as messy as getting a huge pot on your stove and boiling it. This was with wood purchased from a shop though.

Your driftwood might have critters in it and dodgy bits, so I would say a good soak for a good few weeks as you are already doing.

Oldwhitewood:
Thanks also .... (didnt see yr post) .... I've got some shop bought bogwood and the driftwood soaking in a tub in the back garden, I change the water every few days. I'll just leave it there until I'm happy with it.

Thanks

 

[oldwhitewood]

Technically I didn't recommend anything over what you were doing but thanks 8)