Karen B. Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Greetings! I bought 2 mopani woods from my lfs. But the thing is - they were INSIDE one of their aquarium with fishes. If I boil them for 2 hours, am I safe to then use them in my aquarium? They are too big to fit in as a whole but I will boil them by section. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Yeah that is how I would handle it. You can also spray with bleach, let it air dry (10-15 minutes) and then go ahead and soak that to rinse it, then boil it. To be safe, if you opt to use bleach at all then you would soak it, off gas it for a bit for anything that leached in and use dechlor just making sure you don't have any bleach smell at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen B. Posted October 31, 2022 Author Share Posted October 31, 2022 On 10/31/2022 at 1:32 AM, nabokovfan87 said: Yeah that is how I would handle it. You can also spray with bleach, let it air dry (10-15 minutes) and then go ahead and soak that to rinse it, then boil it. To be safe, if you opt to use bleach at all then you would soak it, off gas it for a bit for anything that leached in and use dechlor just making sure you don't have any bleach smell at all. Thank you for your answer! I am way too paranoid to use bleach, sadly, even if I know it’s the best way. Is 2 hours too long? Not long enough? There is sooooo many different information out there… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 A good method to kill bacteria is to use heat. Place your wood in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes at the lowest setting. My ovens' lowest is 170° for example. Turn off the oven and leave the wood in there to cool. This is much safer than using chemicals and works great if the wood is to large to boil. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 On 10/30/2022 at 10:44 PM, Karen B. said: Is 2 hours too long? Not long enough? There is sooooo many different information out there… I would look up directions for camping and sanitizing water and follow that. Depending on temperature it varies. Mopani would do better with the lower temp method and longer time. Because I boiled my last piece too high and it had some sap in it.... That pot is now fish only. Just be careful what you use and opt on something you don't mind getting ruined slightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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