Purchased a Used Tank, Wood, Ornaments. Washed them but are they clean enough? HELP!

[binthaider]

I bought the fish tank which i have washed as best as i could without any cleaners... plain water...
it came with a piece of real wood and a fake ornamental wood.
i scrubbed them clean as much as i could and i boiled the wood in water TWICE.
basically i cant do no more with the ornament one, cant boil it cus its plastic and will go really soft.
The wood however is 'breaking' and still has black bits coming off it... its like it is decaying and im really scared if i put it in the tank it will slowly break and make the water go brown and poison the fish!
Its a nice shape and a nice piece but the edges are falling off the more i scrub and not all the black bits on it especially the tight corners are coming off... what can i do?
WOOD, WHEN SCRUBBING EVEN AFTER BOILING:
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/need2knobasis/21062011246.jpg
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/need2knobasis/21062011245.jpg
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/need2knobasis/21062011244.jpg
ORNAMENT:
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/need2knobasis/21062011241.jpg
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/need2knobasis/21062011240.jpg
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/need2knobasis/21062011234.jpg

 

[lauraf]

If the wood was a kind that was safe for fish, its breaking down won't poison your tank, but might stain the water. If you don't want to be dealing with wood bits in your tank, just chuck it. The orament is probably fish-safe, but if you want to try to get rid of the green stain, you can use bleach and a toothbrush. Just make sure you let it dry out completely after using the bleach, and also wash really really well in very hot water. You can use bleach on the tank too the same way.

 

[Thyra]

I totally agree with Laura in using bleach to clean the ornamental log. The thorough rinsing is the important part. That ornament looks very much like the ones I have - the paint is actually coming off of them and they appear to be a gray plastic or possibly ceramic underneath. Apparently the paint does not harm the fish. The flakes just mix with the gravel and when I stirred the gravel up it looked like a snow storm! I cleaned it pretty thoroughly and was worried but then I have had a couple of otos in there with it for over six months with no problem. I have four ornaments like that unfortunately.