using driftwood

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 06:22:06 -0500, Mr. Gardener
wrote:

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 00:40:14 -0500, (Papa Red)
wrote:

I live in Miami Beach, Florida, about five or six blocks from the
Atlantic Ocean, and was wondering, what about driftwood that washes up
on the shore? Is there any way to get the salt out of it, so that I
could use in in my freshwater tanks?~Dean.

All of the driftwood in my aquariums comes from the ocean just down
the street from me. I give it a good scrubbing in the bathtub or
kitchen sink, depending on the size, put a weight on it and let it
soak overnight, give it another scrub with the brush and that's it.
Sometimes I add a little bleach to the soak, but I'm not convinced
that does any more cleaning than the scrubbing. Any plant or micro bug
matter than may have survived my cleaning probably won't survive
outside of ocean water. I've never had a problem with wood gathered
this way, and I've been doing it for nearly 4 decades. My biggest
concern when selecting wood from the shoreline is pollution - I avoid
stuff that has obviously picked up oil or who knows what that
discolors the wood. As you probably already know, the driftwood will
probably not sink in your aquarium. Many folks will use a combination
of boiling it and soaking it for weeks, even months, until all of the
air is driven out. I don't have that kind of patience - I attach it
with a stainless steel screw to a piece of slate, (slate drills pretty
nicely with a high quality electric drill bit), and use the slate
covered with gravel to hold it down in the aquarium. Silicone caulk
(aquarium grand) will stick it nicely to a heavy rock if you want to
go that way.

-- Mister Gardener

Aquarium grade, not grand.
-- Mister Gardener