Preparing wood for a tank

[ChelseaBea]

Hi, I brought some wood from a aquarium shop last weekend and want to get it ready for my tank. It was slightly moldy so I soked both peices in boiling water for 20mins and left them to soak in cold water over night.

Is this enough or do you think I should do something else to the wood?

Thank you.

 

[Keith GH]

ChelseaBea

The boiling would have certainly killed all the mould plus any other nasties. My next step would be give it a hose down to make sure it's perfectly clean then let it dry in the sun for as long as you can.

Keith

 

[alto]

Note that boiling the wood in no way prevents wood from “moulding” (again) once in the aquarium 😉

Boiling does help to release tannins, will provide surface “sterilization”, will assist with waterlogging of the wood (so it sinks in aquarium)

If you can easily scratch the wood, it will deteriorate more quickly (than harder woods)

Sometimes a good scrub with a metal bristle brush helps to remove loose top layers of wood, other times you’ll find that the wood is soft through and through
Frequent water changes will help remove tannins and various dissolving organics released by the wood