Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => General Fishkeeping advice => Topic started by: Cod_only_knows on April 06, 2016, 08:22:11 AM
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Don't worry, this isn't a rant about some of the blood-boiling comments you hear (often at an LFS) from the uninformed (I was part of that horde until about 2 years ago).
It is actually the name of a really great website I stumbled upon whilst looking for information about suitable wood for the aquarium. The INJAF website has lots of great articles that I believe are useful to beginners and experienced fishkeepers alike. The site also links to other good websites if you want further information on a topic.
I'm amazed in all the time I spend trawling the web that I haven't found this site before. Here's the link: http://injaf.org/ (http://injaf.org/)
ThinkFish is not currently listed as a recommended forum, maybe you could have a word Robert?
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Look like a good site, full of tips and advice. Much like this place really. :)
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Thanks Simon. This site is terrific and by far my favourite fish site, this is largely down to forum (well the people on it) and the community creator. A lot of the articles here are very good too, but I do think that the INJAF website just shades it in that area, mainly because of its better signposting to further reading. That being said, I haven't found a link on the INJAF website to the community creator, which I feel would be a great addition to their site.
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Also, some of the articles on this site are rather out of date and could do with a review. They still make a lot of sense though, because they aren't too prescriptive, unlike some sites which insist you MUST do this and you MUST NOT do that.
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Agreed Richard. Thought you'd be interested in this quote from INJAF:
"It’s worth mentioning that tubes are available from other sources than fish shops, and a “Daylight” 6000-6500K T8 or T5 tube works just fine as a generic aquarium light and is often cheaper to buy."
I know this is something that you often advocate but rarely see advocated in web articles.
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That's me, if I can find a way to get something just as good for less money, I'll always do it.
Usually anything described as "aquarium" is several times more expensive than the generic equivalent, e.g gravel.
My fish seem to enjoy the cheap bulk food I get from EBay more than the expensive branded stuff.
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Haha! You're right the prefix 'Aquarium' seems to put a premium on items that is only surpassed by the prefixes 'Wedding' 'Funeral' or 'Birth'!
I only found the other site because I'm reluctant to pay the extortionate prices quoted for aquarium wood. Especially as I now live in Surrey, which I am frequently told is the UK's most 'treed' county! When the weather clears up I'm off for a scavenge for some nice dried out oak branches that hopefully fell in the storm on the weekend.
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Make sure the dead wood pieces don't have any rare beetles in them. Beetles are my specialist subject and dead oak in Surrey could well be a good habitat for some of our rarest species. Look out for any that has holes like giant woodworm holes, don't take that or any that has bark on, as other species live under dead and dying bark.
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Stag beetles are fond of oak, it'd be a shame to lose any of those.
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In that case are there any aquarium safe wood varieties that are less appealing to our native invertebrates? I'd hate to be taking away a useful habitat just for a piece of tank decor!
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Once wood is dead and lying on the ground, unless there is something already in it, it isn't of value as habitat. The vast majority of insects are attracted to dying and freshly dead, rather than old dry dead, wood. Stag beetles are almost always associated with large stumps and underground roots, never with dead branches. They are not fussy about type and are often found in gardens where old stumps have been left, particularly from fruit trees.
The worst thing is that a lot of live wood is cut in winter, then stacked in the woodland to dry through the summer. Being recently dead, this can attract a lot of insects to lay their eggs there and the subsequent larvae are then destroyed on wood burners the following winter. Cut timber should be removed from the woodland as soon as possible, ideally by this time of year.
Dead Ash wood does have far less associated species than oak, with these trees now becoming diseased there is likely to be a lot of it around. Not sure how good it is for aquariums.
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Thanks for the advice Richard. Mixed messages with regards to using Ash so I'd rather not take the risk. I'm after dead and dried wood that preferably has little in the way of life on it (including funghi if possible). Wish me luck!
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Beech might be a good option. I know you can use the leaves in the same way you'd use oak and catalpa leaves. If you have a neighbor with beech hedging, they might let you cut a branch out.
I'd probably be inclined to boil or bake whatever you use to kill off any potential spores etc.
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Never use live wood that has been recently cut from a tree, it will contain far more, possibly damaging, chemicals. Only use wood that has been dead for some time, which will have been reduced to a few basic components. It's the same with leaves, green leaves will contain a cocktail of chemicals, some to deter insect pests from eating them, but fallen dead leaves will have lost all of these.
Boiling wood may make it sink faster but is otherwise a waste of time.
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green leaves will contain a cocktail of chemicals, some to deter insect pests from eating them, but fallen dead leaves will have lost all of these.
Boiling wood may make it sink faster but is otherwise a waste of time.
I knew abut the leaves, I collect brown beech leaves and use those, didnt know about the wood though and the potential effects of resins etc but it does make sense.
I don't think boiling wood is a waste of time, it sterilizes it if nothing else
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Thanks again for the advice. It's what makes this site so good. I will boil the wood to make it sink faster and if it also sterilises it too and makes it safer for the aquarium, then all the better!
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The problem with boiling wood - putting it in a pan of water and letting it boil on the hob - is that the wood fibres then break down a lot faster. Putting the wood in a bucket and pouring boiling water over it doesn't do that nearly so much. I usually pour boiling water over wood, then let it soak as the water cools down. Soaking helps remove a lot of tannin from wood that leaches it, and it helps wood become sodden and sink.
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I boiled morpani and bogwood deliberately to speed up tannin removal, I did it over a weekend, I changed the water every time it boiled and when I finally added it to the tank I had no issues with tannin leaching into the tank, none that were visible by eye anyway.
The nerites seem to enjoy chewing away at the softened part on the exterior of the bogwood, the poop's a pain though.
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Currently soaking 3 large pieces of bogwood in boiling water. I find it much quicker than soaking it in tepid water for getting rid of the tannins, which was what I did the first few times.
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The nerites seem to enjoy chewing away at the softened part on the exterior of the bogwood, the poop's a pain though.
Yes, wood that's been through a nerite's digestive system does take a lot of hoovering up ;D
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Why are people so obsessed with sterilisation? Fish diseases can't live in wood, it's an aquarium, full of different bacteria already, not a baby's bottle.
Incidentally, the term bogwood is really not appropriate, it originally referred to wood that had been dug up from peat bogs where it had lain for thousands of years, preserved by the acidic conditions and lack of air under the peat. Already waterlogged, it sinks like a stone. You are highly unlikely to find true bogwood for sale these days.
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I was informed by the manager of my MA that the 'bogwood' they sell is actually stripped azalea root.
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I think azaleas are "acid loving" plants. I wonder if that's why some "bogwoods" can acidify water? I have two different types of "bogwood" in my tanks, but I never saw any change in pH.
Skittler
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Fish diseases can't live in wood
Nope they can't but other bacteria that could cause a bacterial bloom in the tank do and I'd rather avoid that thankee