Amano's Driftwood

[Rlon35]

When I look at Amano's work, I see that he gets these great pieces of spidery driftwood. The wood is dark. and the branches go upward and outward to nice extremes. Such pieces are perfect fo tying moss and narrow lef java fern to it's tips, as well as supporting the peice with moss and anubia covered rocks at its base. I have a 92 gallon trigon 350, and I am looking to put one large, centered piece of driftwood where the internal filter 'used to be'. Can anyone direct me to a site in the US or elsewhere where I can find what I am looking for? Does anyone have any size recommendations for the piece?

I want to do a discus tank. I was vals in both front corners, to cover up the internal fluval and internal UV sterilizer I will put at opposite sides. The substrate in the rear will be a good planting substrate, with very light sand making up the foreground. The driftwood will be surrounded by rocks, mosses, and anubias, with background plants around the sides and back of the driftwood piece. I will use a fluval FX5, but I need to figure out the CO2 issue. Any advice about this setup? Can you vets see what I am going for? I was thinking of using Downoi as the only plant in the foreground sand, but I have contmplated leaving it clean, without plants at all in the middle foreground (I do like cryptocorne parva as a cheaper easier alternative). Any suggestions or feedback will be appreciated. I am thinking of going with a fully automated CO2 system and also buying an R/O system and a very good heater.

 

[aaronnorth]

he collects the wood himself i believe. it would be a nice trip out to Japan lol.

you will need a pressurized CO2 setup on the tank,

 

[Rlon35]

he collects the wood himself i believe. it would be a nice trip out to Japan lol.

you will need a pressurized CO2 setup on the tank,

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Can someone please ask Mr. Amano to send me some driftwood? I mean, I see some nice driftwood online, but nothing that really branches out well. The other thing I would be interested in is a stump like wood, with roots downward reaching along the substrate, so as I can plant a lot of green between the roots. Isn't these a special moss that I could use in that scenario (forget the name, star or something like it???)? And, Aaron, can't you give az holler to Dr. Amano for me?'

 

[aaronnorth]

star moss? fissidens fontanus?
best thing to do is to collect your own wood. Make sure it has fallen of the tree(s) and it is dead and dry. Then soak it in milton sterilising fluid and rinse it off in boiling water a few times.

whats "az holler"? lol

 

[Rlon35]

That was supposed to read "a holler"....lol.

 

[OohFeeshy]

star moss?

Personally I'm a bit skeptical about how useful star moss actually is, it looks nice but I'm not convinced it does very well submerged (given that it's a desert species and can survive being completely dehydrated for years and years). Plus the fronds are tiny and it's therefore a pain to attatch it to anything.

If you want branchy wood, have a look for redmoor wood.

 

[aaronnorth]

oh right lol.

Star moss isnt a true aquatic and it is a difficult to get going although it has been done in the past a couple of times. That is why i listed Fissidens after it as an alternative which is slightly easier.

 

[Rlon35]

star moss?

Personally I'm a bit skeptical about how useful star moss actually is, it looks nice but I'm not convinced it does very well submerged (given that it's a desert species and can survive being completely dehydrated for years and years). Plus the fronds are tiny and it's therefore a pain to attatch it to anything.

If you want branchy wood, have a look for redmoor wood.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Um, I think I was wrong about star moss. I had looked at a picture with a stump like piece of would with rooots running throughout the tank. What was plantes in between and on the roots looked absolutely amazing. Will post if I can find it...