Sealing Driftwood

Is there a way to seal driftwood to help preserve it yet be clear to allow the color and texture show through. I've read lots about boiling and cleaning but I'd like to find a way to keep it around and not get soft. I've had some nice unique pieces that eventually just decay away. Is there some type of sealer or clear epoxy that could be used to paint the driftwood yet be fish safe?

Mike Lucas

I have a similar question, or at least one that I think should have a similar answer. A geologist with whom I work has collected quite a few interesting and beautiful rock and mineral specimens during his travels over the years. He has offered me several of his pieces for use in my aquaria. Most of them I have used, knowing that they are chemically neutral. One of these pieces, however, is a black stone from Canada (I forget what he said it is called) with beautiful golden streaks of pyrite in it. Quite a striking sample, and I'd love to have it in one of my tanks. But pyrite reacts with water to form an acid. It is that reaction that causes the acid mine drainage that affects many streams around here. So I have not put this rock in any of my tanks; it sits on a shelf in my basement.

Similar to the question about the wood, is there a way of coating this rock with something to allow the beauty of the rock to be seen while preventing it from affecting the water chemically? I think this question is the same as the one about the wood, because the idea is to isolate the specimen from interacting with the aquarium water. I am thinking that some sort of clear coat needs to be applied. But what sort of clear coat, I don't know. It would have to seal the specimen (rock or wood), remain insoluble so that it would not wear off, and itself be chemically harmless to the fish.

I have never treated any of the driftwood I use. I nomally scrub it with a stiff brush to get any loose items off and then soak it in a tub outside for a couple of weeks to get it started on being water logged. During the soaking process if the water is getting really brown from the tannins, I will drain the water and add fresh.

Bill F

Yeah thats what I do but I hate when a really unique piece eventually starts rotting away, granted it sometimes takes years for that to happen but I'd love to find away to avoid it and still keep the driftwood in the tank.
Mike Lucas

Polyurethane.