Preparing your driftwood to add to your home aquarium or terrarium requires that it be both clean and sterile. There is real potential to bring pests and pathogens into the captive environment if proper techniques aren’t followed.

The first consideration you should make when considering going on a driftwood collection trip is the rules in your local municipality.

oaking the pieces for a few weeks to saturate them with water can work, but can be time consuming. Additionally, not all pieces will take on enough water to achieve negative buoyancy. Weighing the pieces down with rocks during soaking can speed the process…but sometimes that’s not enough.