Geeze, that's big stuff. A nice piece for a 20 gallon long or a 10 gallon is easy for me to find around the local waterways. I like fir anchor roots. They are very woody, have a nice shape, little or no bark and nature has already taken care of the curing for me. This stuff has been floating in the water then bleached in the sun for who knows how long.

I use it right out of the wild and never had a problem. I give a good scrubbing but it can't hurt to boil it either. I don't like what an oven can do to the wood if it is truly to get hot enough to kill nasties. Freezer does no good. Doesn't kill a lot of things including fungus spores. Scalding takes care of that.

A piece of this safe wood can be seen on the right in this tank. Certainly, much larger naturally cured wood can be found like this in my area and it is nasties-free as long as it's old and a bit sun bleached.

This moss is great too. No nasties to speak of, it stays alive with regular misting or looks great dead too. It's just like laying a rug down. Never had ill snakes or any pests using this stuff for 25 years or so. Amy loves to hide under it when it's a bit damp. Works dry too!