# Curing driftwood



## benjaminleebates (Dec 27, 2011)

So I got some driftwood from local river. Nice and old.
It's too long to boil on the stove like I did last time. 
Heat helps to kill any organisms and water helps to leach out tannis, right?
SOOOO, what I was thinking of doing, is to soak it, then "bake" it over an open fire thus raising the temp of the water logged wood; then repeat once or twice.
Can anyone tell me if there is anything wrong with doing this?:fish9:


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## z1200 (Jan 26, 2012)

If you burn it your pretty much screwed... so... I would go with the boiling.


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## benjaminleebates (Dec 27, 2011)

Too large to boil. I don't feel like going out and buying a metal trash can.
The peice of wood would be plenty far enough form the heat source, so it's NOT going to catch on fire. Would the smoke from the fire cause any issues if it penitrated the wood?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Take it to a carwash and use the sprayers to clean it without soap. Or stick it into your bath tub and pour boiling water on it.


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

can also soak in your tub with a diluted bleach mix then double dechlorinate


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I think the open fire could work but it sounds kind of a bother to get right. You wouldn't want to do it for long, I have baked wood in the oven but the thinner parts are in danger of getting burned and becoming very brittle if you leave it too long. Also the fire would probably change the color. If you want to try that I'd say do it on a piece you don't care about too much first.

Personally I'd go with putting it in the tub and pouring boiling water over it like Susan said. And maybe a scrub with a wire brush to get rid of loose mud, rotten wood etc. If it's been soaking in the river for a long time you don't need to worry about the tannins. And it's already waterlogged so you don't need to boil it to sink. I wouldn't be too worried about sterilizing inside the wood but making sure the boiling water made contact with all the surface area to get rid of hitchhikers. Of course letting it dry out would probably get rid of most stuff too but then you'd have to soak it again to get it to sink. 

The only concern you are left with is contaminants. If you collected the wood from a river it's hard to know where it's been. A good long boil should help to get out anything nasty it might leach into your tank. Think pollution, weed killer, farm chemicals, factory chemicals etc. It's unlikely than any of these things are actually going to cause you major problems but it is something to consider. You might want to try the piece of wood first with a couple of fish rather than putting it into your display tank full of rare and expensive fish.


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## benjaminleebates (Dec 27, 2011)

I'm planning to get a fire going, then boil it over an open fire. To big for the stove.
If it still floats, is it that big of a deal? Like I can anchor it, but is wood that wants to float that big of a deal in an aquarium.
The wood is either oak, elm or walnut. It's completely dried, no sap or anything, no bark for that matter. When I routed it out, the saw dust was dark brown.
Would I have any concern for the wood rotting? What does rotting wood do that suggests it rotting? And what chemical levels does it effect? Or is it just aesthetic?
Thanks in advance!


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## lonedove55 (Jan 25, 2012)

benjaminleebates said:


> I'm planning to get a fire going, then boil it over an open fire. To big for the stove.
> If it still floats, is it that big of a deal? Like I can anchor it, but is wood that wants to float that big of a deal in an aquarium.
> The wood is either oak, elm or walnut. It's completely dried, no sap or anything, no bark for that matter. When I routed it out, the saw dust was dark brown.
> Would I have any concern for the wood rotting? What does rotting wood do that suggests it rotting? And what chemical levels does it effect? Or is it just aesthetic?
> Thanks in advance!


Personally, I WOULD NOT use any type of walnut driftwood in an aquarium, no matter how long it was soaked or boiled. The tannins in walnut are extremely toxic. I speak from personal experience...we had to remove a large walnut tree from our yard. Any grass, weed, etc. that the wood and saw dust came in contact with died almost immediately. Even though the tree was cut up immediately after it was felled, there was a perfect dead stripe across the lawn. 

You stated that when you routed the wood, the saw dust was dark brown, so it is very likely that the driftwood IS walnut. IMO, you are taking a big risk using it in your aquarium, even if you are able to remove most of the tannins.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

lonedove55 said:


> Personally, I WOULD NOT use any type of walnut driftwood in an aquarium, no matter how long it was soaked or boiled. The tannins in walnut are extremely toxic.


I think it is worth taking the caution into consideration but I do believe some people have used walnut with success in their aquariums. With almost any kind of wood you will find people who avidly say that it is toxic in the aquarium and others who say it is fine. Do plenty of research and decide what you will try. My personal view is that almost any wood that is well aged and soaked it is probably safe. Driftwood has often been around for years. Any toxins that readily leach into water will have already. If you cut wood from a tree yourself it is a bit different because the wood is still green and still has all it's sap, toxins and tanins. To make green wood safe can take much longer so more caution is required. I have never had major problems with any of the woods I have used but I have never used walnut.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Did some googling.

General info about walnut toxins: Black Walnut Toxicity to Plants, Humans and Horses, HYG-1148-93
I couldn't find much specific info about Walnut in the aquarium other than that some people recommend it and others say that you shouldn't use it. It produces a type of natural weed killer which is toxic to many plants so may be of concern but then again cedar is probably the wood most often said to a no-no for the aquarium because it is toxic to many insects yet plenty of people use it in their aquariums if it is well aged.

Interesting thread about aquarium safe wood:
Wood choice for the planted tank - Page 2 - Aquascaping - Aquatic Plant Central


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## crazycrab28 (Sep 7, 2012)

snail said:


> I think the open fire could work but it sounds kind of a bother to get right. You wouldn't want to do it for long, I have baked wood in the oven but the thinner parts are in danger of getting burned and becoming very brittle if you leave it too long. Also the fire would probably change the color. If you want to try that I'd say do it on a piece you don't care about too much first.
> 
> Personally I'd go with putting it in the tub and pouring boiling water over it like Susan said. And maybe a scrub with a wire brush to get rid of loose mud, rotten wood etc. If it's been soaking in the river for a long time you don't need to worry about the tannins. And it's already waterlogged so you don't need to boil it to sink. I wouldn't be too worried about sterilizing inside the wood but making sure the boiling water made contact with all the surface area to get rid of hitchhikers. Of course letting it dry out would probably get rid of most stuff too but then you'd have to soak it again to get it to sink.
> 
> The only concern you are left with is contaminants. If you collected the wood from a river it's hard to know where it's been. A good long boil should help to get out anything nasty it might leach into your tank. Think pollution, weed killer, farm chemicals, factory chemicals etc. It's unlikely than any of these things are actually going to cause you major problems but it is something to consider. You might want to try the piece of wood first with a couple of fish rather than putting it into your display tank full of rare and expensive fish.


Hi, I read your post and felt you would be able to answer this: is driftwood or boxwood from an aquarium store safe for fish and red claw crabs? And is it best to boil it or microwave it while wet before putting it into tank? I'm going to call pet stores now and see if they sell a small piece, I need it for my crabs. Any tips would be appreciated, thanks!


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