I have recently found a large piece of driftwood on the bank of my local river. It has no bark on it and I can't really tell what kind of wood it is. My questions are: How can I make it safe for my tank since it is too big to boil? Should I use untreated water first to kill any bacteria and then use treated water? Also are there any types of wood that should never go in a tank? Any info or experiences with driftwood would be greatly appreciated. I do not want to have this thing screw my water up and/or kill all my stock. Thank you for any information that you share.

Any advice, suggestions, and/or experience with driftwood would be greatly appreciated.

Use a stiff bristle brush to scrub it clean and then soak it in a container of water to help remove the tannins. Dump, rinse and repeat until the water is clearer.

Yeah baking is about as good as boiling for killing bacteria so that should do it!

With the soaking, there's really no telling how long it'll take. Some pieces will sink almost right away and others will take weeks. It's very frustrating, I had a piece once that I was soaking in a cooler and it took forever. Some people get impatient and just anchor it down in the aquarium whichever way they're able to, so that's one option if you can't get it too sink for a long time.

I found a large piece of driftwood washed up at a local reservoir. It was too big for any of my pots to boil. I pressure washed it, scrubbed it with a stiff brush and soaked it in a large bin. Changed the water every now and again and re-scrubbed and washed it every time I changed the water. Did this for 5months. When it came to using it, I boiled numerous pots and kettles of water. Filled the bin up with hot water and kept topping it with more hot when it began to cool. Despite all this soaking it was still buoyant and needed tying down. None of my fish have shown any signs of illness so far.