Driftwood FAQ

[FroggyFox]

Sony...what is your pH right now? If its pretty high I dont think I'd worry about adding a well cured piece of driftwood, as long as it doesn't take up the entire tank or anything.

[sony]

The pH is now about 8.5, if i put one meter long driftwood, how low pH can go?

Thanks

Sony

[Kuroshio]

There are a lot of variables there Sony. It could lower it noticably or not, really there are too many variables to tell. Trial and error.

If it does lower the pH too much then you could play around with adding crushed coral, etc. until you have what you want, or try another piece of wood, some will lower pH a little more than others. Again, too many variables....Good luck

[Grumpy_Marine]

Ok here is one question not asked yet... How long should you boil the driftwood for? I have been told to boil it many times before adding to tank, but it doesnt say how long to boil it? Also... if the driftwood is completely dry what do i do to get it boiling? do i just put in water or do i have to submerge and soak it to get it waterlogged again?

[Kuroshio]

Hi'ya Grump! How you prep depends on what you want in the long run. I've heard from everyone with experience that boiling will cause rot where if you use some other methods that don’t damage the woods composition then it could last for decades (these involve soaking for months or even years with newly cut wood). Also depends on what wood you have. Hard woods have to be boiled longer than soft woods, and fresh cuts need to be boiled for LONG LONG time vs drift wood that has been in the water for unknown period of time already. I did the fresh cut method and found some wonderful maple in a new construction plot. I boiled for a few weeks, as many as three hours a night sometimes. ( I took days off for my own sanity as well). I then soaked them in tubs in between boils. I used scrubbing brushes to remove any soft spots and the bark as well. That was over a year ago and my wood looks just as good and just as strong today. That’s not always the case though.

What I used as a guide was the tannins that were released during the boiling process. They have a sweet stink and turn the water a red-tan color. That should get lighter and smell less as the amount of tannins in the wood are leached out. Hope that helps some~
Good Luck!!
I should add that my piece of wood is two feet long and up to 8 inches tall.

[Grumpy_Marine]

thank you for the reply. I have started the process this morning. I soaked it in hot water over night held down by rock. still floats this morning, but it is wet. I then started boiling for three hours. The water had red tint to it like mentioned. Also what looked to be pretzel salt came out of the wood. The peice i am using was found on beach at ketchkin alaska. I bought on ebay, so it has been in water before but i figured i would boil to be safe. I know it will cause to decompose faster, but i don't have the means to submerse it for months on end in an apartment. So i will boil and see how it goes. I am always changing tank so might change before rotting starts anyways. My chunk is 5 inches lont 3 inches wide 6 inches tall. It has barnacles that were formed on it but are falling off while soaking and such. I will post the end results when done.