Branch/twisted Wood

[jonnyf84]

ok its very frustrating looking at all the beautifully aquascaped tanks with there perfect pieces of branch wood, all i can find is useless fat clumps of bog or mopani wood, where can i get the good stuff???

Oh, also where can i get some long tweezers for planting, iv checked boots but they only have the typical grooming tweezers.

Many thanks,

jonny

 

[Miss Wiggle]

only place around Leeds that I've found the nice twisty wood is QSS in Bradford, they don't have it all the time though so keep calling back until you find some.

you can use reptile feeding tweezers or you can buy specialist aquatic gardening tools from ebay.

 

[Davo86]

there are a few places online you can buy some, try searching for sumatra driftwood or Redmoor

Aquaessentials is the one site that comes to mind

 

[Fisses]

Ive used Mopani wood in my tank and found a little crevice to put a plant in so it can root itself to the plant and got it from Pets At Home for about £5

hope that helps

p.s i was also told by Pets At Home Mopani wood is good to use as it doesnt constantly tan the water brown for a long time(mine tanned the water for about a month max but is now clear)

 

[jonnyf84]

Thanks for the advice, i find aquassentials to be a bit over priced and apart from the borneo wood they dont show pics of individual pieces which i find insane - £50 for some wood that you can't see, no thanks - its a shame because they have plenty of options of different wood and rocks.

I'll give that a go MsW, its been a while since i was on tff but i remember a big gap for a while where you used to be, good to see you back, i hope all is well.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

thansk jonny, appreciated.

 

[jonnyf84]

Thanks fisses, your tank looks very nice but i would like to go for a more delicate look. I have buckets full of clumpy bog wood for which i have no use, what a waste, fish keeping is a swiftly evolving personnel hobby that just seems to eat cash, the more you get into it the more expensive things get.

 

[Fisses]

I know what you mean, i thought it would be a cheap hobby but the more its gone on, the more bits ive bought to put in, and then to take out replacing it with something else.

my tank still needs a little something but cant decide yet

 

[flippajh]

Just as a quick one, my local Maidenhead keeps a good supply of really spindly wood in, which I know is not much use as you're way up country, but not sure if you had one near to you.

Good luck!

 

[Truck]

redmoor is really good, try aqua essentials or the green machine

 

[jonnyf84]

my closest Maidenhead aquatics is in Lincoln or York unfortunately so thats out of the question, i phoned QSS and they have a little redwood left plus some that the manager put to one side for his own tank, he says if i like it then i can have it so i will pay them a visit on the weekend, thanks for all the input.

 

[jonnyf84]

good news on the tweezer front, kind of...... ordered them from aquaessentials, 30 bloody quid for a set of tweezers, eh'hem correction..'precision tweezers'

The mrs is going to go mad!

 

[minxfishy]

Try ebay for the sumatra wood, there is a seller on there doing it, jjcaquatics I think.

 

[Truck]

good news on the tweezer front, kind of...... ordered them from aquaessentials, 30 bloody quid for a set of tweezers, eh'hem correction..'precision tweezers'

The mrs is going to go mad!

you wait till you get, them they have there own presentation case and everything (depending on which ones you got) you will never want to use them

 

[Honeythorn]

What's wrong with your hands and a planting stick??? £30 for some tweezers?

Now don't quote me on this but I have read that Oak is safe to use in aquaria. So if you do find a nicely twisted oak branch you might be able to use that. It would need the bark removing and the surface sanding, and the wood boiling ( with a drop of milton in the water for sterilisation ) to remove any parasites or nasties, then reboiling and soaking again for a week or two to be certain.

A lot of work but cheaper than buying wood from an LFS. I think the prices charged for wood are ridiculous.




Actually now I think of it, would Willow be a safe wood to use in aquaria ? Anyone know?

Willow is a thirsty tree and often grows on canalsides , pond edges and riverbanks, and isn't only confined to Britain and the US. Overhanging dead branches are bound to fall into the waters .

I'm just curious to know if such a wood could be used seeing as it grows most often next to water.