"Waterproofing" driftwood

[Redfoot NERD]

Recently there have been water turtles to enter my life.. again!

http://www.turtletary.com/specials.htm

The driftwood turned the water like "tea"!

What can I use to water-proof the wood? It's all dried out now in my tort building. The DBT are in a larger tank now as well.

Any ideas are most appreciated.

Thank you....

Terry K

 

[terryo]

There is a great pond where I live and as it narrows, it then empties into the bay. In that narrow spot is where the brackish water is and there you can see loads of DT's basking if you go early in the AM. They are absolutely beautiful. If you look along the edge of the pond, in the Spring you can see some babies. People used to bring me these babies that they would find in the street near the pond. The birds would carry them off and then drop them.

When I did water turtles, we used to collect driftwood and clean it and peal off all the bark, and then let it dry in the hot sun. The sun would bleach it. I think it is the bark that makes the water turn brown.

 

[Redfoot NERD]

There is no bark.. TerryO!

Thanks anyway...

Terry K

 

[Meg90]

Isn't there a type of wood especially for water enclosures? Moaponi or something??

Have you looked online? Where did you get the wood in the first place?

 

[Redfoot NERD]

These are pieces of driftwood that I found in East TN.

Anyone know how to treat with anything?

Terry K

 

[Meg90]

I don't think you can---maybe bleach them, in bleach and water solution, then rise and bake them to dry them back out...

 

[Madkins007]

I'm just guessing here, Terry, but I am wondering if soaking it in a few changes of clean water might do the trick? I am wondering if the 'tea' is dirt, or tannens in the wood, or something else entirely. You remove tannens from acorn meal by changing the cooking water a lot so I wonder if it would work here.

I think I would experiment by taking a piece and soaking it in a bucket overnight, change the water and soak it another several hours, change, soak, and monitor the water color. If it is fading significantly, I'd keep going. If it is still tea, I'd try something else... but I don't know what off-hand.

 

[Millerlite]

you should try soaking it in water, then hot water, the more it stays in water the more will leak out, over time everything will leak out and it wont do it anymore. I think if you boil it it will speed it up and fix the problem

 

[muddled]

I keep aquariums and I've been through the whole driftwood thinking it's a giant teabag situation... unfortunately most driftwood release tanins that stain the water, and you have to soak them for a few weeks until it stops coloring the water as much. Boil it if you can too, that helps. Also, FYI eventually the driftwood will sink and will go to the bottom of the tank when it becomes waterlogged if it's floating right now without support... if you have a nice tall piece that touches the bottom then nevermind.

 

[Redfoot NERD]

I keep aquariums and I've been through the whole driftwood thinking it's a giant teabag situation... unfortunately most driftwood release tanins that stain the water, and you have to soak them for a few weeks until it stops coloring the water as much. Boil it if you can too, that helps. Also, FYI eventually the driftwood will sink and will go to the bottom of the tank when it becomes waterlogged if it's floating right now without support... if you have a nice tall piece that touches the bottom then nevermind.

Thanks guys...

I'm talking about a 2' x 4' x 14" stock tank.. so I'm talking 'bigger' ( basking ) driftwood.

I'm about to start a thread of them.. so watch for "WATER" TURTLES?

NERD

 

[dreadyA]

That's what I had to do. I bought some cork bark off an ebay seller by the name of Tillystuff. It measured around 10"x20". I just put it in an empty tank full of water to make "tea ". I left mine submerged for 2days(changed water a few times inbetween). I cut two 1" in diameter pvc pipes according to the width of my tank and attached suction cups to the end of the pipes and placed them slightly above the water line.I then cut the bark to measure and placed it on top of the pipes To minimize water contact. I will post pics when i get off work!

 

[dreadyA]

20 days later...here it goes, like i said i would. This is my g/f's quarantine tank that she keeps for new additions.

here she uses pvc pipes with suction cups to hold the bark up(even though it stays afloat)

 

[Stephanie Logan]

That's a cool looking habitat! The etching on the glass makes it a bit difficult to see through to your turtle though. What is her name?

 

[dreadyA]

Yeah, The dang glare ruined it but I just wanted to show how I hold the driftwood afloat.
His name is Bowser....don't ask, my Gf likes Mario bros.. ..hahaha