The Puffer Forum

hey guys i live in tucson arizona and i live in the dessert and all the drift wood here is really expensive i was wondering if i could just grab some pieces from the dessert and soak it and see if that would work? any guesses? im putting the wood in a fahaka tank 125 gallon. please help!

I would boil it or cook it in the oven. You're going to have to weigh it down for quite some time.

Some Pieces NEVER seem to achieve negative bouyancy. I have a chunk in my Community Showtank thats been floating for more than a year, the fry love it! Here's my curing method. Add your chunks to warm water, DON'T dechlorinate. Let this sit about 5 days and drain it, at this point it will probably reek to high hell. The water will be very murky. Immediateley add more hot chlorinated water. Keep doing this until the water is clear after 5 days and the smell is tolerable. The last time you soak the chunks, de-chlorinate the water and let the whole soup stand for a week. ALL my driftwood is home cured, it's a GREAT money saver and lets you have more choices. Go for a hard wood that doesn't have a resinous sap and it will last a long time. Have fun I know I did!

They will get water logged eventually but they must be weighted down. I use ankle weights.

see i heard that they could rot and that will possibly kill my fish.....? but im not sure..... so i will be ok just taking a piece out of the dessert....?

Soft wood decays at a faster rate and releases more tannins. This will lower your ph a lot so just be sure to use something hard unless your going for acidic water

One thing I did for my iguana I had (since I live in Scottsdale,AZ) gone to desert and gotten cactus shell and baked it for about 1 hour and a low heat about 350ish.

Also idea since they do like to float get some fishing line like fluorocarbon since its unseen in the water and get 1-2 rocks that can hold it down. With the rocks first drill a hole through them and tie the line through the hole and same with the cactus shell or drift wood. It would let it be submerged but yet look like its floating! All the kids would be like ooohhh and ahhhhh since the fish tank is the centerpiece in any house hold!

The rotting/decomposition occurs because of various bacteria, insects, and fungi. Boiling the wood for a good period of time will take care of that, at least for a time. I have a hollowed out stump in my GSP's tank and haven't had any problems with it except waiting for it to become water-logged. I agree that the harder the wood the better.

Boiling may kill any insects in the wood at the time of boiling.

Nothing will keep wood from rotting in water. Water-logged wood rots under bacterial and fungal attack, and those things are present in tank water - prior boiling of the wood will not lock them out.

Good point. I hadn't really thought of the fact that our tank bacteria are meant to break things down. I boiled my wood, but it seems that with or without boiling, the wood will last for a good while and then break down. Mine's been in there about a year without a problem yet, so I wonder how long it can go for? No idea what type of wood it is though.

thanks guys this is going to be a HUGE help i will bw setting my 125 up next week with the wood so i will post some pics!

+ 1 RTR! It's always important to note that it's NOT like "zapping" rock with copper. The things baking and boiling do for wood in a FW or low-brackish setup have no effect on the decay rate. But it's nice to know your not bringing pathogens into your system.