oscarlover34

I was wondering if it would hurt my tank if I put a big piece of driftwood in it?

luper

http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/index.php?topic=2525.0

search it up first..

but ill be using drift wood too... mostly people say boil it b/c of the tenine or w/e in it..

plus any bad things that may be in it...

but it should be fine just boil it several times to clean it
-luper

chickadee

I have driftwood in all my tanks and I have boiled it and not boiled it.* If you get it from a dealer in drifwood and it is the right kind of wood it should be okay to use right away.* Mine has never turned the water colors no matter if it was not boiled.* I have always bought mine through:

http://www.amazonmoosey.com

Their wood is mostly cypress and it makes a great driftwood.* It will have to say that the catfish in your tank will
"carve" it a bit but not enough to make it disappear just to give it character.* *

Rose

chickadee

Here are a few pictures of mine to give you an idea of the assortment of the unboiled pieces.* Just as a little bonus you get to see my little Otocinclus catfish in the hole of the big driftwood piece having a snack on the algae growing there.* (His name is Dingbat* )

Rose

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Butterfly

Beautiful wood Rose. If I'm using a piece I found I ALWAYS boil it. If it comes from a dealer it depends on how it looks whether i boil it or not. It at least gets a good wash with a brush.
Carol

luper

hey Rose (chickadee),
What kind of plant is that on your second and third picture on the left with the holy leaves?!?!?
I WANT IT! LOL

drift wood seems like an art eh.... anyother good places to find it? Swampy seems to have plenty of choices but jw/

-luper

EDIT:

also Rose, is that a rock in the foreground? Looks cool whats growing on it? What kind of rock is it? I'm an amatuer so I'm admiring tanks alot lol

chickadee

The plant grows from a bulb and is the Madagascar Lace Plant - now I can never remember the real name:* Aponogeton madagascariensis (got it!).* They are VERY easy to grow and need little care, but grow quite tall and need to have the really tall leaves pulled out once in a while to keep the plant producing smaller leaves and so it doesn't get "leggy".* My betta LOVES it.* He sleeps on it.*

The thing in the front of the tank is:
http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.as...familyID=9611&

They love the little cave too.* The Otos and the Betta fight over who gets to be in there and I have thought many times of getting more than one if I just had more room so they would stop fighting.* They just won't give up!

Rose

ebbandflow

I just realized that the driftwood I bought last weekend is fake! Ive been boiling plastic or acrylic or whatever its made out of (it feels like wood I swear) for like two hours now. The finish on the outside started to come off. Oh man I am an idiot.

chickadee

No you are not! That artificial driftwood is really good. It is hard to tell - that is why they sell so much of it, because it does look and feel so much like the real thing. Even the fish are fooled a lot of the time.

Rose

luper

LOL

sorry i feel bad for ya but its kinda funny i can relate though so don't feel alone..

thanks rose