Drift wood

[Kelly]

Can someone tell me if I am preparing this sal****er driftwood properly for
a fresh water tank??

1) Boil repeatedly and change water until water stays clear

2) soak in bleach and water

3) Boil again

4) Dry in Sun

Thanks Kelly

[NetMax]

"Kelly" > wrote in message
news:7LN0b.22601$at3.16964@edtnps84...
> Can someone tell me if I am preparing this sal****er driftwood properly
for
> a fresh water tank??
>
> 1) Boil repeatedly and change water until water stays clear
>
> 2) soak in bleach and water
>
> 3) Boil again
>
> 4) Dry in Sun
>
> Thanks Kelly

A soak in heavily de-chlorinated water should take care of any residual
bleach left behind.

Personally I might have thrown it in without any harsh treatments. Any
contagions or parasites would be of a marine origin, and would probably
have found your freshwater environment to be inhospitable. There would
be minimal tannins leached if it was already underwater for any length of
time. Some residual salt would have little effect to most tropical fish
(unless it was a huge piece of wood in a tiny aquarium), and the salinity
would be regularly diluted through weekly water changes.

Myself, I'd rinse in hot water, sink & soak in a tub for a few days
(changing the water periodically, to dilute any pollutants the wood might
have absorbed). If I was feeling especially paranoid, I'd put Aquarisol
in the first few soaks (used as a net dip for sterilizing), and put a
guppy in the tub for an extra week. Boiling is always harmless (and not
a bad idea, if the wood fits in a pot). How cavalier you want to be
depends on whether it's going in with prize winning Discus, or something
less. I'm not a fan of using agents which are toxic to fish with
materials which absorb the agents, so wood and bleach would be an
undesirable combination, requiring extra effort to ensure it's safe again
(just my opinion based on limited experience :o)

NetMax

[Bob K.]

>I agree I use bleach for a ton of aquarium things, but I would never consider
>it for
>anything I would think would absorb the bleach, ive tried it on a few things
>to try to
>extend there useable life, and for me it never is worth the time and effort
>required to be
>100% sure there is no bleach left
>
>--
>Richard Reynolds

>
>> I'm not a fan of using agents which are toxic to fish with
>> materials which absorb the agents, so wood and bleach would be an
>> undesirable combination, requiring extra effort to ensure it's safe again
>> (just my opinion based on limited experience :o)
>>
>> NetMax

For use in freshwater.
To kill off most everything on a piece of driftwood, soak it
for a long time is a super saturated salt solution. It will
want to float, so weigh it do with a rock. After a week or
three, soak it in fresh water and change daily. If you can't
taste salty water, it's ready (& if you're still ok - it's safe!)

Bob