Finding the perfect piece of driftwood is proving to be very difficult and I was wondering if any driftwood obtained out of the wild would be safe to use in an aquarium.(with proper precautions taken)

Ive wanted to do this, because i have the same problem, and it makes me realize after ive been informed why its like 15-20 bucks in store

what ive been told they hvae to do is to soak the wood for months, changing water to get all the baddies out, other people have told me they boil the wood, then let it cool, then boil, etc etc a number of times until they believe its safe, they do it this way because they reckon the wood expands then contracts and every thing comes out of the wood.

dunno man, someone else on here would be able to explain the exact way, its just a pain, coz i live at the beach and there is always wood that i would put in there, i just cant be arsed.... lol

That makes sense. Its just so frustrating having to choose from whatever they might have at the store.

ebay has it as well man, well it does in Australia, some nice big bits

The answer to your question is yes, properly prepared wood can be used in your aquarium. However, it's not an overnight process and it will take you several days to prepare properly. However, the last thing you want happening is the wood starting to rot so if I was you I would research thoroughly how to make your own aquarium wood safe.

I was thinking about using a pressure cooker set at about 15 psi to sterilize it but I don't know where to begin on preventing the wood from rotting. I believe it would depend on the type of wood it is. In the states we have cypress trees that live for decades in water and I've seen pieces of cypress that would look awesome and I hope it would be resistant to rotting since the trees live in the water.

www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...aquarium....cork-back-panel.html i found this artical if it helps,

sorry wont let me put it here

Me neither....

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You don't have permission to access /...aquarium.../57269-cypress-roots-cork-back-panel.html on this server.

I had a lovely piece of wood in my old tank. Even though I got it from the LFS they told me to soak it in a big bucket in water for a couple of weeks. Pour boiling water over it every day and change it.
The bucket was like tea and I have heard people say that on the site.
Even after all the work it did change the water in the tank slightly for a little while.
I have read that it lowers ur PH too.

yeah the wood leaks tennis, which is brown, i have mopani wood in my tank, i just put it in the bath over night in hot water, did this for three days, then put it in my tank, tannis wont hurt your fish its actually good for them, some people like the look and it does lower your ph, xxx

better to look for some secondhand wood that is proven to be aquarium safe.
Found wood can have toxins spilt on them, or may rot easily.
I bought this fr#@kin tree for 25 euros in my hometown, through a secondhand site...

Thats the one you have in there fixed permantly Noddy?...