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Re: driftwood



Hi B.J.,

> 
> Hey all,
> I collected four pieces of interesting driftwood at a very clean lake in the
> high country of California where I live while I was backpacking last
> weekend.  I was hoping I could put them in my tank because they are very
> attractive.  Then, I read somewhere that if you have green spots on your
> driftwood, it has some copper on it.  I asked a guy at the pet store if I
> could use it and he said he wouldn't.  The lake is clean, and so is the wood
> except for the few green spots. Could I cure the wood some how, or should I
> just not use it?  I checked the archives and couldn't find much on the
> subject of cleaning driftwood.  Thoughts?
> 
> Thanks in advance!!
> 
> B.J. Smith
> jesmith at sonnet_com
> 

	I've always collected my own driftwood.  The stuff they sell in
the petstores is a fortune!

	What I do is boil the driftwood in water for about 10 minutes.
I then let it sit in hot water overnight.  The next day, I boil it
again and let it sit overnight again.  I never bother with any bleach,
peroxide, etc. treatments and have never had any problems with any
driftwood I've collected.  It does take a while to sink in the aquarium
though, so you'll probably have to weight it down for the first while.

Regards,

Chris

**********************************
Chris Teichreb
Department of Biological Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C.

cjt at sfu_ca
**********************************