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I bought a piece of driftwood, the kind attached to a piece of slate. Man at the lfs said it was already 'treated', is there anything I have to do with it before adding it to my tank?

Since I wasn't sure I already boiled it, let it soak for a few hours, then boiled it again. Just want to know if this is necessary or not, and if so how much boiling/soaking is required?

Thanks

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

hi!

I usually boil all wood for about 30 minutes then in to the tank it goes, 2 boils and a soak will be more than enough

Thanks, that's what I wanted to know.

I just stopped the last boil and I'll let it soak overnight while I'm at work.

Really anxious to see how it looks in the tank

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Welcome

I'm sure it will look awesome, i like wood better than rocks

Hi,
Your cycle of boiling and soaking is fine as long as
you did each step in fresh water and did not simply
keep it submerged in the same water through out the
cycles.
Many pet shops offer live food such as crickets, and
others. In the process of bagging them, some of the
live food gets away and makes a home in the store
feeding off of the other pet food and trash that
humans leave behind. (The empty coke can someone
stuck behind something instead of placing it in the
trash.) The end result could be the store is over
run with critters. They frequently hire folks to
come in and spray to control the loose food and
the folks they hire are not trained as far as what
they can spray or not, nor are they that careful
about where the spray lands.
Anytime you get anything from a pet store that is
not boxed, to be place in the tank, you need to
clean it "just in case."

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

As silly as this sounds, it depends on the piece of wood you have. Personally, I've had driftwood pieces which soaked for days while others I only dipped for a few hours. Not that it really matters, as the tannins won't drastically lower your pH, and IMO, the tea colored staining effect is rather cool (especially for SA themed tanks). I guess this really wasn't much help, as it's 12 in the morn over here, and I'm not thinking quite clearly, but those are my 2 cents on the matter.

Good points, thanks again.

I hadn't really thought about airborn pollutants, that's something to keep in mind for any future purchases.

My main concern was making sure the wood was clean and wouldn't harm my fish in any way.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean