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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Aquascaping and driftwood question

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07 Nov 2012 21:15 #1 by lawrenceog (Lawrence O Gorman)
Hi Guys

Im thinking of aquascaping my vision 260 tank, I have a dirted substrate capped with gravel, all my plants are doing great so I think its time to rearrange the layout. My question for you all is in regards to driftwood.

I find the prices of driftwood in my LFS quiet expensive almost prohibitively so especially for a large piece, What is your opinion on collecting your own from river and lake sides? and what would the process of making safe for my tank be.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated

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07 Nov 2012 22:25 #2 by Tigger (Abe Bardez)
Hi

I usually boil driftwood that I have collected before putting it in the tank.

Since some pieces were too large to be boiled on the stove, I have put them in the dishwasher on an extended cycle(no powder!).

Cheers

Abe

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07 Nov 2012 23:18 #3 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Aquascaping and driftwood question

Hi

I usually boil driftwood that I have collected before putting it in the tank.

Since some pieces were too large to be boiled on the stove, I have put them in the dishwasher on an extended cycle(no powder!).

Cheers

Abe


Abe, you should never put anything you intend putting into a place where Fish will live, into anything used in conjunction with Detergent, there will more than likely be residues, the slightest of which , will damage Fish etc.

Kev.

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07 Nov 2012 23:21 #4 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Aquascaping and driftwood question
Rivers are a definite no no! they are repeatedly polluted by all types of nasties. Lakes are safer as the volume of nasties to water will be lower but in saying that, anything taken from nature can be contaminated, something you will have to decide for yourself, a safer bet but not 100% is Bog Wood from a Bog.

Kev.

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07 Nov 2012 23:50 #5 by JustinK (Justin Kelly)
You could always try the beach ?
A tip I picked up before from another hobbyist was that anything that can live in the sea more than likely wont live in freshwater and vice versa
Always ensure anything used is fit for the tank first. A good scrub and maybe some time to weather
out the back helps.

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08 Nov 2012 02:39 #6 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Aquascaping and driftwood question

You could always try the beach ?
A tip I picked up before from another hobbyist was that anything that can live in the sea more than likely wont live in freshwater and vice versa
Always ensure anything used is fit for the tank first. A good scrub and maybe some time to weather
out the back helps.


The problem is not what might be living on the material, it is what pollutants might have been in contact with it, like, pesticides, herbicides, oils, phosphates etc, boiling will not remove toxins only plant and animal materials.

Kev.

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08 Nov 2012 11:55 #7 by lawrenceog (Lawrence O Gorman)
Thanks for the input folks, a lot to consider. Who would have guessed a piece of wood could be so complicated :laugh:

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08 Nov 2012 13:27 #8 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Aquascaping and driftwood question
There you go... when you consider the volume of an Aquarium, the concentration of any toxin would be far greater than any river, lake or ocean.
That's why it is recommended you don't paint or spray air freshener in a Room with a tank or to have after shave or creams etc on your hands when working on it.

Kev.

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