# Bleaching driftwood?



## joestreich (Mar 24, 2005)

I found a nice piece of driftwood in a local lake and i am wondering if i should soak this piece in some bleach before adding this to my tank. I am also wondering what the ratio of bleach to water should be.

Any help would be great.

Joel


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

never bleached wood, but plenty of people boil them. boiling is just as good. it will kill most bacteria, protists, and any plants or animals; just as bleach would.


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## joestreich (Mar 24, 2005)

not sure how i could boil this thing.....don't have a pot big enough. Any ideas what i should do?


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

well you dont need to do the thing all at once, if half fits, and then the other half, boil and then turn over and boil again. 

you could leave it in the sun dry for a week. the UV would kill some bacteria, and most algae. any parasitic animals would probably die of dehydration. but its not nearly as effective as boiling.

is wood microwaveable? look into it. MW can easily cause the temp to increase to boiling, but have it wet when you put it in, and monitor carefully; you dont want it to start a fire...


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## joestreich (Mar 24, 2005)

those are good ideas....... this piece is too large for the microwave but i will keep that in mind for future pieces. I have been baking it in the sun for about 3 weeks now, but it has rained off and on during that time. I think this one might have to just be added to the tank at some point.

thanks for the help.

Joel


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## skoorbza (Jun 8, 2008)

A safer backup: hydrogen peroxide. Pour it over, scrub, then rinse, rinse, rinse, and rinse in treated water. The H2O2 should kill any wayward mosses, and if a little drop or two escapes your rinse, it will not harm your tank.


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## vance71975 (Jun 4, 2008)

joestreich said:


> those are good ideas....... this piece is too large for the microwave but i will keep that in mind for future pieces. I have been baking it in the sun for about 3 weeks now, but it has rained off and on during that time. I think this one might have to just be added to the tank at some point.
> 
> thanks for the help.
> 
> Joel


I have had success with pieces to big to boil by putting them in the oven. 200 to 250 for about 3 hrs(if your worried about it catching fire Soak it overnight in the bath tub, use a cinder block to keep it from floating if need be,AND MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN THE TUB AFTER!!!women hate to see stuff in the tub!)


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## Fishytales12345 (Apr 12, 2008)

I suggest you do not use bleach. I made the mistake of trying it and I could never get the chlorine (or whatever that bleach smell is) smell out of the wood. Also, it did like the name implies and turned a dark piece into a grey piece.

I was later told to use hydrogem peroxide as skoorbza says above and it worked just fine with removing the algae.

Howard


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

Dishwasher. Send your wife out of the house, run the dishwasher with no soap (obviously). Problem solved. You will likely have to remove the racks, but one cycle removes a lot of tannins, as well as being hot enough to kill bacteria and such truck.

HTH


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

for pieces too big to fit in my pots i put them in a laundry sink and put boiling pots of water in every 20 minutes or so.


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## joestreich (Mar 24, 2005)

Thanks for these great ideas. I will probably have to use a couple of these becuase the driftwood is rather long. (i could cut i suppose) Anyway, I appreciate all the imput.




vance71975 said:


> I have had success with pieces to big to boil by putting them in the oven. 200 to 250 for about 3 hrs(if your worried about it catching fire Soak it overnight in the bath tub, use a cinder block to keep it from floating if need be,AND MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN THE TUB AFTER!!!women hate to see stuff in the tub!)



Sounds like there is a great story thats being left untold....LoL


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

Fishytales12345 said:


> I suggest you do not use bleach. I made the mistake of trying it and I could never get the chlorine (or whatever that bleach smell is) smell out of the wood. Also, it did like the name implies and turned a dark piece into a grey piece.
> 
> I was later told to use hydrogem peroxide as skoorbza says above and it worked just fine with removing the algae.
> 
> Howard


the bleach smell comes from bleach. 
i think the bleach does contain chlorine in its compound.


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