Wood and stones

Question
I have picked up some lovely driftwood and stones from a lake that is near my house.  I plan to put the wood and stones in my aquarium which has 4 cherry barbs 4 cories 4 guppies 6 black phantom tetras an oto and a gourami


How do i go about putting the wood in the aquarium?  How do i wash them as i dont want to kill the fish!


Thanks    Jack

Answer
Hi Jack: Guess I kinda know Jack now... Driftwood has to be cured before it can go in your tank.  It either has to be soaked for about a month or boiled for 24  hours.  The problems is that driftwood that has not been in the water for a long time will leach tannins into your tank and either stain or discolor everything.  It can also drastically affect your tank water chemistry.  The rocks... I would boil them for about ten minutes. Make sure that they are not rocks like fools gold, etc as those will leach toxins into your tank.  Here is a link for a great article on driftwood....

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/driftwood.php



dave