[AquaticLife] Driftwood Cleaning & Curing…. Now, why didn’t I think of this???
I always do my rocks in the dishwasher on sanitize, no soap. I got yelled at by a guy on a forum once who said one rock chip and goodbye dishwater motor! So at your own risk.
However, the dishwasher does not remove algae.so scrubbing is still required.
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From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Lenny V. aka GoldLenny Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 11:23 AM To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [AquaticLife] Driftwood Cleaning & Curing…. Now, why didn’t I think of this???
I was just reading my most recent edition of TFH (Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine), the February 2009 edition (why do magazines come out one to two months early anyhow?) and in the Q & A section, someone asked about the difference between store bought driftwood and the kind we might find in the wild. While reading the answer, mainly being that the store bought has already been cleaned and cured, the answer went on further to explain how one might cure/clean their own wild found driftwood… and now to the “Why didn’t I think of this?” question.
Of course, the answer mentions scrubbing each piece with a scrub brush to remove dirt/debris from the surface. Do not use soaps or detergents. Then boiling each piece for about an hour. I’ve used a large crawfish boiling pot for this but I know most folks do not have crawfish boilers.. so here’s the BIG answer… “…Larger pieces may need to be placed in your dishwasher on the hot cycle (using no detergent). Boiling will not only kill microbes, algae spores and other undesirable organisms, but it will also help to leach out the tannins and open the pores of the wood, allowing it to become saturated faster so that it will sink more readily in your aquarium…” and Lenny’s additional tip… remove any water spot remover stuff and run it on the full cycle… not that pansy energy saving cycle. LOL
WOW… I never thought about putting the big pieces in the dishwasher for the boiling/sterilization process. While boiling for an hour would be better, since the wood would be soaking in the water which would help it to sink easier, running it through your dishwasher is a more readily available “tool” in most households. Just make sure you remove it before the missus gets home as she might not appreciate a big hunk of wood being in the dishwasher when she starts putting all your dirty dishes in the dishwasher… you know.. the ones that you left sitting in the sink while you sterilized the driftwood.
Heck.. the dishwasher can also be used for sterilizing our nets and other aquarium tools as well as any used stuff you might buy. Beats the heck out of watching that pot boiling on the stove.
Please contact the law firm of Dewey, Skruem and Howe for any pending divorce advice as a result of following any advice in this post. LOL
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny. blogspot.com (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)
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Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
