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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #76



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I do this for fresh and salt water tanks by taking dry wood, either
real drift wood or standing dead wood from the forest (maple in my
case) and boiling it for many hours (>7 typically), changing the water
every few hours, until the water comes clear. By then the wood sinks
as it has absorbed enough water and it is also pretty sterile so I'm
not introducing pathogens into the tanks.
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For any grad students out there.....an autoclave works wonders on drift
wood.  Pop it in on wet cycle for 10 or 15 minutes and do not let it go into
a dry cycle.  The high pressure steam penetrates every bit of the wood.  It
comes out soaked and very hot.  I pop it right into a bucket of water and
change the water 2 or 3 times over a day or so.  This is faster than the
normal week it takes for it to absorb enough water to sink.  Fast, clean,
efficient.

Dennis J. Harney
Miami University Botany Dept.
from Oxford, OH, home of the municipal chlorine spike.