# Method for sterilizing rocks and collected wood?



## Synthtcd

Does anyone have a tried and true method for sterilizing slate rock and collected wood? I pulled the slate out of a rock face, its got dead bugs and webs on it. The wood is from a dried stream bed, should I be concerned with possible mercury contamination? I've heard of two ways to prepare these materials for the viv, and that is baking in the oven or boiling in water. What is the more accepted method, and at what temperature and time should I bake or boil my materials?


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## FishinAggie03

Don't know about bake time or temp, but you could also throw it in the freezer for a few days.


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## widmad27

2 Ways to clean and disinfect.

1. Soak the peices in a 10% bleach solution 90% water solution for about ten minutes, rinse with really hot water, then let dry for 48 to 72 hours. 

2. Bake the wood in the oven at 250 to 300 degrees for anywhere from 1-3 hours. Then let cool before use.

Putting them in the freezer will only slow the development of what ever bacteria or fungus is on them, once back in a optimal growing temperature the growing will begin again.

Any questions just PM me.


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## Jayson745

it doesn't seem like 10 minutes soaking would be enough for a large piece of driftwood. 
There are these invasive bugs killing trees in MI and its been on the news and in the paper. Well these drifted roots I'm working on have them inside , I split the stump yesterday and found 3 of them. They look like giant maggots, but end up being some ugly flying bug when they mature.

some of my wild moss was dieing so I dug it up and it has little clear white worms in it .



moral of the story= what ever method you use, make sure you do one if not both because you dont know what nasty stuff is in there.

side note= this stuff of mine is not in a viv yet and will be disinfected before use


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## Studdlygoof

Don't know how many people are aware so thought I would throw it out there to save a potential hazard...Many types of rocks have water pockets in them...when heated this water turns to steam, expands and....KABOOM!!....anyone who has been camping can attest to this...

Just wanted to throw that out there incase anyone was contemplating putting their rocks in the oven...


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## thekidgecko

IE almost anything sedimentary..... lol. Oh yeah, the bleach method really screws up these beautiful limestone rocks I have, any other method? Baking would make them explode, as they are almost always moist-ish outside. I tried putting one if a bonfire once.....yeah, never again :lol:


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## Ed

items with multiple cracks can be difficult to disinfect due the the inability of the disinfectant to penetrate into all of the crevices. 
Ideally the rocks would be scrubbed with a stiff brush to remove all dirt or other material that could protect organisms from the disinfectant. 
Then the stones can be soaked in bleach or alternatively a disinfectant concentration of household ammonia (do not use both due to risk of poisioning). Ammonia will disinfect ascarid ova but requires an extended contact time (>2 hours to reduce numbers by >80% (see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Abstract). 
The benefits to using bleach or ammonia is that both readily can be used in sufficient quantities to penetrate inner surfaces (at least larger cracks and holes) unlike spray on disinfectants, are cheap, are readily rinsed off, and can be easily neutralized. 
Once the disinfection has occured the stones can be soaked in Amquel or Ammolock (for ammonia, or a dechlorinator for bleach) solutions and then rinsed well and allowed to air dry until no ammonia or bleach can be detected by smell. 
Wood is difficult to disinfect using bleach due to the interaction of the wood with the bleach and typically wood should not be reused unless you can autoclave it. 
Rotten or punky wood cannot be adequately disinfected unless autoclaved. 
Keeping the wood out of contact with the ground until throughly dry will eliminate some parasites and chytrid but will not affect pathogens like Mycobacterium. 

Ed


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## thekidgecko

I guess bleach will have to do, ammonia that long would disintegrate these rocks. Bleach does as well, but seems like the most viable option....cool.


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## MonopolyBag

Studdlygoof said:


> Don't know how many people are aware so thought I would throw it out there to save a potential hazard...Many types of rocks have water pockets in them...when heated this water turns to steam, expands and....KABOOM!!....anyone who has been camping can attest to this...
> 
> Just wanted to throw that out there incase anyone was contemplating putting their rocks in the oven...


YES YES YES, VER VERY VERY IMPORTANT! CAN CAUSE SERIOUS DANGER, DO NOT HEAT ROCK, EVEN ONES THAT LOOK DRY! , BLEACH THEM ONLY!

I do not think any worms will be living "in" the rocks.


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## fleshatomb

For wood, id go with the bake option. When i first got into dart frogs, i cleaned wood by soaking it in a 100% bleach solution, yes much stronger then talked about here, and the breeder said if i planned to keep that in the tank, they wouldnt sell me the frogs cuase bleach could leech out of it over time. and even a 10% leach solution, i would still be worried about something leaching out over time from the bleach.

IMHO throw it in the oven for half an hour, thatll kill any thing bad im sure.


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## Guest

For wood and rocks I throw them in the oven for about 30min at 200*F

For leaf litter, I just throw them in a pot and boil them for a about 5-10min

Hope this helps,


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## ScottT1980

Bumping an old topic...

Any opinions re: heavy metal contamination on these pieces of driftwood. It may be minimal, but these heavy metals are certainly seen in many of our watersheds. Obviously baking won't do it, and bleach won't get it all. So, any issues with this when putting them in tanks?


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## kron4me

I am no expert but I have had great success in the past with these methods. For my rocks I soak them in a 10% bleach solution for 10 min and them boil them for around 3 hours depending on the thickness, less for thinner more for thicker. For my drift wood I just boil it for a few hours is a large pot and them bake in the oven at 300 deg. for around 3 hours as well or until it stops hissing and steaming. I fell that the boiling helps speed the leaching process of any harmful chemicals or tannins. I might also note that when preparing drift wood for aquarium use or for a water feature i soak the drift wood for several weeks in a brine solution and boil at least 2 times (if not more) per week. In the past I have had no problems with this method, however I am no scientist or chemist so I do not know if this is over kill or under preparation.


I might also note that if you are using limestone in an aquarium or water feature it can change your kh and ph of the water it is in. If you want to know if a rock is safe soak it in vinegar over night and if it reacts with the vinegar (i.e. fizzing or discoloration) it probably should be avoided for water. IMO.


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## DocChris

Valid points all, however: Unless you are attempting to conduct an experiment on the effects of alkalotic water on PDFs, do not use limestone in a viv. 

Long term exposure to the elements causes erosion in any sedimentary rock (limestone, shale, sandstone, etc.) More importantly, limestone, when exposed to water consistently over long periods, whether due to rainfall, high humidity, or watershed activity (lakes, rivers, etc) dissolves. The result of this is that your pH levels will rise dramatically, and you'll end up with dramatically alkaline water, which I sincerely doubt that PDFs are able to tolerate. 

In regards to the sterilization process, I would presume to consolidate the ideas and say that with rock, the idea is to use a weak bleach solution followed by boiling, probably using a stiff bristle brush to dislodge any dirt from the crevices between the two. When sterilizing wood, soak them in order to prevent them from getting too dry during the baking process.


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## Deathkitten

I'm making a larger viv, and the pieces of wood I have collected are quite long. As a result, sticking them in the oven would not be feasible unless I cut them up... Which would be quite a shame as they really are exquisite... 

What would I do in this particular case???


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## rollei

Make shift oven? Maybe you can grill the wood on a gill.


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## rpmurphey

What I do for rocks is boil them on medium or just to the boiling point for about 2 hours. 

For wood I soak the wood for 2-4 days so the wood is completely soaked through and put in oven on 230 for 4 hours.

I don't use an bleach and have never had a problem with bugs or anything.

hope this helps.


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## rpmurphey

Deathkitten said:


> I'm making a larger viv, and the pieces of wood I have collected are quite long. As a result, sticking them in the oven would not be feasible unless I cut them up... Which would be quite a shame as they really are exquisite...
> 
> What would I do in this particular case???













could do something like this^^^^^


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## arkay

I read through this thread and searched through others, it seems like the best thing to do with collected wood is to bake it but my question is once in the vivarium it is going to be subjected to high humidity and probably touching water. Would that not cause it to begin to rott over time? Is there anything you can treat the wood with so it stays good for a long time? I was thinking a coating of latex paint or a sealant of some kind? The driftwood you get from the petstore doesnt rott submerged in fishtanks, anyone know what that is treated with? 

Thanks


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## AzureFrog

arkay said:


> I read through this thread and searched through others, it seems like the best thing to do with collected wood is to bake it but my question is once in the vivarium it is going to be subjected to high humidity and probably touching water. Would that not cause it to begin to rott over time? Is there anything you can treat the wood with so it stays good for a long time? I was thinking a coating of latex paint or a sealant of some kind? The driftwood you get from the petstore doesnt rott submerged in fishtanks, anyone know what that is treated with?
> 
> Thanks


I think that any organic material will rot over time, but there are types of wood that will deteriorate more slowly then others. IMO, mopani wood is one of the best woods to use, I have used it for years in my fish tanks (and now in my vivs). It is sold for fish tanks because it is very hard and dense and will hold up, submerged in water, longer than most other woods. Malaysian driftwood and ghost wood are good but I think they are softer and do not last as long as the mopani.

Peace 
Shawn


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## chuckpowell

Or don't bother. Just clean the wood and rocks leave them out in the sun for a few weeks and go ahead and use them. Your unlikely to bring something in from the wild that will hurt the frogs. I've done it for years with no ill effects.

Best,

Chuck


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## sky line

boil the rocks in dechlor water fore 15 minets


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## gootswa

I scrub them really good and then boil them too for about a half an hour.


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## aboznut

I've had good luck putting wood and rocks in the oven. No explosions in the oven or camping...must be the type of rock.

Be aware not to get either from areas that might be sprayed with bug or weed killer though...


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## irishkreem

does boiling them work?


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## [email protected]

Synthtcd said:


> Does anyone have a tried and true method for sterilizing slate rock and collected wood? I pulled the slate out of a rock face, its got dead bugs and webs on it. The wood is from a dried stream bed, should I be concerned with possible mercury contamination? I've heard of two ways to prepare these materials for the viv, and that is baking in the oven or boiling in water. What is the more accepted method, and at what temperature and time should I bake or boil my materials?


Hi. I know manzanita wood is safe for aquariums terrariums and frogs. Just soak in plain water first.


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