Wood from my yard.. can i use it ?

[bsmith]

i have a wooded backyard with lots of rotten wood, and some good wood from old trees, how can i make the wood suitable for my tank? i heard that you should just boil the wood and all the dirt and chemicals will come off. is this true ?

[Scuba Kid]

you'd be better off buying drift wood

[bsmith]

i just have so much of it, it isnt worth it to me paying 20$ for one piece of wood that i have in my yard, is there any way to make it work

[fish_doc]

The 3 B's are what you need to do. and even then you are not guarenteed it will work.

Find one that is dried. No Green wood. Then debark the wood.

Then the 3 B's
Boil the wood.
Bleach the wood.
Bake the wood. Either in the sun or in a oven or even both.

Then repeat.

Once again make sure it dries out totally between treatments. When done give it a week or two test drive in a bucket to see if it grows any molds when submerged in water for a long period of time.

I agree buying is the safest way to go.

[bsmith]

haha well i think with all that work your right, but what about on places like ebay. i see they have a lot of "driftwood" and things like that, to me they look like they just found them too. is it worth the try to buy a piece like that, or stick to stores decorations ?

[TheOldSalt]

People will sell anything on Ebay, and someone will usually buy it.
You're right. In many cases the stuff you find on Ebay is very much like what you might find, but at least a lot of that stuff is driftwood. Driftwood is very different from forest-floor wood.
The reason the wood you buy is so expensive is that it has been processed with the 3B's. ( or at least should have been )

If you find a nifty pice of wood, then yes, you can make it work. Soak it for several weeks in a bucket, changing the water every few days, until the water doesn't turn brown so much, and until the wood sinks without being weighed down. Then boil the heck out of that wood for several hours. Change the water in the pot, and boil it again.
After that, it's back to the bucket, this time with some bleach. Let it soak for a day, then change the water and dose heavily with dechlorinator. Let it soak for a few days, then boil it again all day, optionally with a bit of salt in the pot.
Now bake it. The goal is to slowly force the water out of the wood, without breaking it, which will suck out the tannins with the water. I'm not sure of a good temperature, but I'd say around 175? You don't want to boil the water inside the wood, lest it split the wood, and of course you don't want it to catch on fire.

Now it's back to the soaking bucket. With any luck, it will sink this time, but if not, let it get waterlogged until it does, and boil it again. You'll be able to tell at this point how much tannin the wood still has. You'll never get rid of it all, so don't even try. If you like the results, then soak the wood in a bucket again, and this time let it develop a nice coat of bioslime. This will seal the wood and help keep it from leaching tannin into your tank so much. A gentle rinse and it's good to go.

Nope, no trouble at all! LOL!