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I found a great peice of wood while fishing. I was wondering what is the best way to treat it before putting it in my tank?

Best thing to do is to boil it. If it is too large for a pot then boil as many parts as you can by turning it after ten minutes until the majority of the piece is boiled. Depending on the type of wood, you may want to submerge it in a large container to make sure that it is water logged before you try to place it in your aquarium.

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I've attached it to a peice of slate. Also, I heated it in the oven at 180 F for about an hour.Good or no?

Was it FW or SW fishing? Also was it a nonpoluted water where you got it from. I have used DW I have found on tropical beaches with safety no polution and sun baked.

You also might want to soak it to see how much tannis it has.

Keith

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i got it out of the mississippi river (FW) and it is soaking right now in hot water

I'd be a bit worried about anything pulled from the Mississippi. You might want to check with your local parks service near where you found it for what types of pollutants would be in the river in that area.
Since wood is so porus it'd be able to absorb and hold pollutants rather easily, and even with plenty of rinsing you may still be putting your fish @risk. Ultimatly of course it'll be up to you to use it or not . Running carbon while soaking it in hot water will help absorb tannins from the wood as well as doing frequent water changes on the soaking water.

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Soak it in boiling water & leave it there till it "drowns". When you think it's ready, place it in a tub of water & after a few days check the water parameters, to see if it leached something in the water & to make sure it's 100% safe for your fish.

Only when you're 100% sure that it's safe, place it in your tank.



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Great. Thanks for the advise