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 Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:43 pm
Hello.
I have a 55 gallon freshwater aquarium, with fake plants (plastic and silk) I've tried to grow real plants but my fish either eat them or dig them up, or they die. I don't have the money to buy equipment either right now (substrate, co2, UV light, etc) or the know-how
But I really like drift wood. I've really really liked the way they looked, but as of now, and money being tight, I can't buy one. But sometimes while I'm at my local petstore, or online... They just don't seem... Right... to me. But yet when I'm at the beach or the river or the creek, I'll see a rugged looking piece and think "Hmm that'd look nice with the fishies"
I know you can't place a piece of wood in your tank, but is there any way they treat/clean their wood? I want to do it too.
Websites? Directions? Tips?
Thanks. I'm new to this guild sweatdrop
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:38 pm
i think it would be tough to treat the wood yourself and have it look nice AND have it be safe sweatdrop i tried to clean off a piece of drift wood once to use it and it was just a mess...i didnt trust it and so just purchased some....its safer to just save up and buy it
i know its MUCH cheaper to just pick it out of the river but it will not be the safest in the long run...purchased drift wood will grow to become what you want it to look like ^^
i DO know how to take care of river rocks
i scrubbed them down and boiled them for a LONG time >_O my mom said i was making rock soup
and then i scrubbed them again. drift wood sort of falls apart if you try to boil it and you cant really treat it with a chemical because its porous >_<
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:23 pm
Happy Skittles Lizzy i think it would be tough to treat the wood yourself and have it look nice AND have it be safe sweatdrop i tried to clean off a piece of drift wood once to use it and it was just a mess...i didnt trust it and so just purchased some....its safer to just save up and buy it
i know its MUCH cheaper to just pick it out of the river but it will not be the safest in the long run...purchased drift wood will grow to become what you want it to look like ^^
i DO know how to take care of river rocks
i scrubbed them down and boiled them for a LONG time >_O my mom said i was making rock soup
and then i scrubbed them again. drift wood sort of falls apart if you try to boil it and you cant really treat it with a chemical because its porous >_< River rocks look nice, I have a bunch that I've collected over time in rock formations. I read on a website that you can soak it in hot water with bleach for 12 hours and rinse, do it again, rinse, do it again, rinse and then let it dry and then do the regular cure process. But does drift wood deteriorate after time? Or do they do something to preserve it?
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:39 pm
all driftwood from what i know deteriorates but its a slow process, extremely slow, but depending on the driftwood(as im sure Lizzy can explain further what I mean cuz I can't remember what she said about it i just know light and dark lol)
it can soften the water but you'll be able to remove it before its too big of a mess, doubtful you'll have a problem with it making a big mess anyways being it is a constant deterioration at a extremely slow rate.
--
oh yeah lizzy did you really boil rocks?
I remember reading not to do that cuz they can become porous and in the process explode.
--
as for the treating thing it all depends on the piece and how big of a mess your willing to deal with.. im sure if you go on google and type diy driftwood treatment you'll find something that could help you with this, just not sure about the clean up.
edit:
also forgot to mention check out what type of wood it is before you try to use it as driftwood, not all wood found can actually be used in an aquarium even after being treated some will release toxins and kill your fish.
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:03 pm
Bain_V all driftwood from what i know deteriorates but its a slow process, extremely slow, but depending on the driftwood(as im sure Lizzy can explain further what I mean cuz I can't remember what she said about it i just know light and dark lol) it can soften the water but you'll be able to remove it before its too big of a mess, doubtful you'll have a problem with it making a big mess anyways being it is a constant deterioration at a extremely slow rate. -- oh yeah lizzy did you really boil rocks? I remember reading not to do that cuz they can become porous and in the process explode. -- as for the treating thing it all depends on the piece and how big of a mess your willing to deal with.. im sure if you go on google and type diy driftwood treatment you'll find something that could help you with this, just not sure about the clean up. edit: also forgot to mention check out what type of wood it is before you try to use it as driftwood, not all wood found can actually be used in an aquarium even after being treated some will release toxins and kill your fish. Hmm. Would oak be okay? I'll look into it more, thanks razz
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:24 am
rocks explode? never heard of that one...some rock is naturally porous...some is not...dont know how you could MAKE it porous by boiling it
and yes i really did boil them...wouldnt say i did if i didnt XD and for a long time
the difference between dark wood and light wood (if you go buy it) is that light wood will not soften your water. that wood is usually good for reptiles and things. dark wood will soften your water and purchased wood may not deteriorate at all or take near forever to do so where as wood taken from a near by river isnt treated a certain way and so may make a huge mess in your tank as it deteriorates
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:24 pm
Happy Skittles Lizzy rocks explode? never heard of that one...some rock is naturally porous...some is not...dont know how you could MAKE it porous by boiling it
and yes i really did boil them...wouldnt say i did if i didnt XD and for a long time
the difference between dark wood and light wood (if you go buy it) is that light wood will not soften your water. that wood is usually good for reptiles and things. dark wood will soften your water and purchased wood may not deteriorate at all or take near forever to do so where as wood taken from a near by river isnt treated a certain way and so may make a huge mess in your tank as it deteriorates oh... dang I read on a website that boiling wood will make it deteriorate in about a year, vs just soaking it in hot water with bleach continuous it will last forever. I know you cant use pine because it has pinesol in it, and you can't use willow because of natural aspirin in it...
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:28 pm
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:04 am
The way to clean driftwood is to bake it and/or soak it in bleach, then soak it in dechlor a couple of times. But this is only to clean driftwood contaminated by a disease outbreak in your tanks. You should never use driftwood you find outside because it could be a wood that is bad for your tank and also because of the pathogens/chemicals/whatever that are probably lurking inside.
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:04 pm
Are those fake plants? They look really nice!
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:12 pm
yep the plants are fake XD
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 8:44 pm
Happy Skittles Lizzy yep the plants are fake XD I wish I could get real plants in my 55 gallon aquarium. My fish dig them up/eat them and I don't have the money to buy the systems for it right now gonk
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 2:08 pm
Well, to start off I don't suggest you do this, but I have used wood that I found washed on the seashore.
The process I used to clean it was a few months worth of cooking and rinsing. There is wood that can take that kind of treatment for a long time and still stay strong for years. This is tropical hard wood. It's dark in color and even when soaked it does not bend, or barely.
But I don't know anything about the wood types and the treatment of them in moderate temperatures.
What you can use as a cheap and nice alternative for wood is coconutshells. You can easilly obtain them in I store that sells exotic foods, you can drain the milk and stuff and use it for cooking, and you can boil the shells clean. Since it's meant as a food product I doubt chemicals will pose much of a threat.
You can also look around markets. Sometimes aquarium hobbiests have stalls on flea markets to sell excess stuff and even fish. That's where I got my current wood from.
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 8:26 pm
Irrlich Well, to start off I don't suggest you do this, but I have used wood that I found washed on the seashore. The process I used to clean it was a few months worth of cooking and rinsing. There is wood that can take that kind of treatment for a long time and still stay strong for years. This is tropical hard wood. It's dark in color and even when soaked it does not bend, or barely. But I don't know anything about the wood types and the treatment of them in moderate temperatures. What you can use as a cheap and nice alternative for wood is coconutshells. You can easilly obtain them in I store that sells exotic foods, you can drain the milk and stuff and use it for cooking, and you can boil the shells clean. Since it's meant as a food product I doubt chemicals will pose much of a threat. You can also look around markets. Sometimes aquarium hobbiests have stalls on flea markets to sell excess stuff and even fish. That's where I got my current wood from. We don't have a flea market anymore cry Even when we did, they were just hippies making an extra buck, and selling their weed under the tables. Coconut shells, eh? But then they'd be round and... Boring.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 2:38 pm
-Vanilla- eXe The way to clean driftwood is to bake it and/or soak it in bleach, then soak it in dechlor a couple of times. But this is only to clean driftwood contaminated by a disease outbreak in your tanks. You should never use driftwood you find outside because it could be a wood that is bad for your tank and also because of the pathogens/chemicals/whatever that are probably lurking inside.
I've read that as long as you clean it right it shouldn't be a problem. And it should be hard wood.
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