Bogwood/driftwood

[bigmick474]

I want a natural looking cave in my tank.
if i but some wood, can i cut it and silicone it to the shape i want?
Thanks in advance.

EDIT: can i cut rocks into a shape i like?
Thanks again

 

[WILDER]

Where is the wood from, i would leave it to dry out for aday when you have silconed it.

 

[bigmick474]

i'll be getting the wood from ebay. it says its "fish safe"

 

[WILDER]

That's fine then, don't forget to sterlise it.

 

[bigmick474]

to sterilize it i boil it dont i?

 

[WILDER]

Yes, then you should soak it for a couple of days, changing the water.

 

[bigmick474]

ok.
thanks alot

 

[Jo and Gra]

i'm soaking mine in a bucket........

water changing daily......

do i just carry on till it dont change colour anymore??

anything else i need to do before putting in the tank?

 

[pseud]

Leaving it to soak for all the color to come out can take a LONG time (weeks). The more you boil it the quicker the tanins leech out. I boiled my wood for about 2 hours in 15 minute periods, changing the water each time for fresh COLD water

 

[TonyGill_home]

Im still having to soak my piece of wood, after firstly leaving for about 3 days in very hot water (topping up of course), then running continous water in a bucket via a hose for 2 days. After this I put in my 22.5G Tank. The colour still leached out, using carbon filter to remove anything in the water, but water still going brown after water changes, and media replacement, after several weeks.

I have taken the wood out of the water, and slowly but surely, the water is no longer as brown as it once was. So now I have put the wood in a bucket outside, and after day 1, the water still went brown. Have replaced water and will leave a longer period

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

boil boil boil!

 

[nc_nutcase]

If I read the question correctly you are asking if you can do something like drill a hole in the driftwood or cut a piece off and glue it somewhere else…

Drilling holes in it to create a cave shouldn’t be a problem at all. You will want the wood to be completely dry but that is to make things easier for the drill bit or saw blade, not to protect the wood or fish. After you cut/drill it simply rinse off the saw dust and there ya go…

Regarding siliconing… I had an experience once where I siliconed shelves into an aquarium to create a terrarium and left the silicone to cure for 72 hours (the label said cures in 24 hours) I still had major problems resulting in the death of several fish. Silicone cures as a chemical evaporates out, so the less surface space you have open to fresh air the slower it cures. So whenever we use it to glue to things together we have very little exposed surface space it it will take a very long time to cure.

I have used an aquarium grade adhesive that dries very quick and is made for gluing fish décor. I don’t remember the name but it is a green substance that is sold at some pet stores and comes in a 9 inch long 1 inch diameter tube. For gluing I would suggest this stuff over anything I’ve found, for sealing, nothing beats silicone.

 

[Ethos]

I've seen many topics like this....can we just pin one?

 

[Jo and Gra]

so basically if it too big to boil, soak it till the water stays clear?