--- In AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com, "Kiersten M" wrote:
> Today we went floating on a river n I noticed a pile of wood n
>I couldn't help but pick through it n found the perfect piece of
>drift wood. Have NOT put it in my tank because I dug it out of
>a muddy river bank with very very still moving water.
> Im wanting to prepare it for my tank.
> I'm just a bit worried I wont get it clean enough n I kill my tank
> n have to start aaaalllllll over again.
> I'm definatly a DIY kinda person, so I picked up an awesome
> rock to go with the drift wood
Hi,
I tend to be a DIY kind of person when it comes to "nature picks" going into my tanks. This includes wood, rocks, plants, and snails.
Some people feel you should only be putting stuff you get at the pet store in your tanks, which is fine, but I don't think this should be a hard and fast rule as some would have you believe. After all, I have seen some pet store stock that is simply dreadful.
All of your suggestions are fine for the various ways you might clean up something like a piece of water logged wood, so you can pick and choose those that you feel most comfortable with. I will just say my own experience has been to simply take something from a local river that I know to be "clean" and simply brush off the loose bits of mud and stuff, rinse well and put it in a tank. HOWEVER, I should note that usually I am adding these to a tank with NOT prized fish, so common barbs or whatever. In other words, I wouldn't do this if you have a tank full of $60 each discus fish. Generally tanks I do this with the grand total of fish value in the tank would be pricey if they reached $60. ;)
Usually the most common issues you will encounter are things like snails and aquatic insects. Most insects are harmless and the fish will usually pick them off in short order, however one that could be a problem are dragon fly larva which are predatory and can pick off small fish. However they are fascinating in their own right. Snails can be a problem depending on your personal opinion of them in your tanks plus what fish you have (e.g. a tank with loaches will not develop a snail problem.
Other things you could bring in the tank could include ich or things like hydra, although in my opinion, you run a greater risk of these from store stock (despite people's thinking that store stock is safer).
A final thought. People do not bat an eye when keepers of reef tanks add "live rock" to their tanks. This is a normal part of their hobby. Why should freshwater be any different? Pioneers in the hobby like Innes did it this way as they often didn't have a lot of other choices in the early days.
So go with your gut and your comfort level of risk. If you want to mostly add these straight to the tank as is, more power to you. If you want to boil the crud out of them or soak them in bleach for a week, well more power to you again. ;) They are YOUR tanks, so you are free to enjoy them in any way you wish.
Regards,
Patrick
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