Aquarium Wood...a Cheaper Way?

[minnnt]

Hiya mike, no it isnt. The puffers went in the end.

That tank is my Cryptoheros Cutteri tank.

 

[BigTom]

I wouldn't boil wood, it'll just make it break down faster. The important thing, in my opinion, is getting wood that is dead, dry and free from rot. I've used everything from beech, oak and hawthorn to heather, ivy and spruce with success. I just give it a quick scrub to remove excess bark and plonk it in - never had any issues.

 

[mike455555]

what happened to them? that tank looks great as well =D still got tons of tanks or not?

 

[zain611]

Hows your tank cycling doing mrvillicus?

 

[mrvillicus]

pissing terrible mate, im STILL not cycled!

 

[tomtomtom1230]

How do you boil a 3ft piece of wood?

As long as the wood is dead you can use any type you want. I am currently using pine, but it must have been dead for about 4 or 5 years.


Cutteri Tank by David Raynham, on Flickr

I agree with the dead-wood bit. The wood will rot if it's not dense enough I imagine though, or if it's already given in to rot.

To answer your boiling question: you can't without serious industrial equipment. The way I'd do it is something like this: I would fill the bathtub with hot water and add a few pans of just-off-the-boil water to help denaturalise any nasties that might be on the wood. Take a scouring pad to it when the water has cooled a little, drain some water out and fill it back up with hot water again.

Impressive looking tank though, I bet it took ages to get a picture where the fish aren't blurred too much and are in good contrast with everything else

 

[DrRob]

There is always Milton.

 

[minnnt]

Not really TTT, it was the first shot with them in. Haha. 101% luck I reckon.

Thanks btw.