Driftwood, were to start!

[LtGtR2]

So i want to get a peace of driftwood, which leads me to a bunch of questions, would i rather make a rock structure or just get a peace. I have an Oscar in my tank and just want to add something else to the tank to make it look not so dull! Plants are hard as some Oscars love to uproot them so i figured driftwood. But then comes the question would i take to much space away from him as he can grow to a foot long and hes in a 55 gallon tank! so when hes bigger his space is limited.. not by much but it is.

Also any other tips and decorating advice would be nice as i am aquascaped challenged! *PEACE!*

 

[TAL]

Have you looked around apethouse.com? They are also a supporter of MFT!

Doesn;t or isn;t is possible for driftwood to change your pH a bit?

The fish in your tank looks surprisingly similiar to the one in your avatar.

 

[LtGtR2]

Yup thats why i chose the picture cause it reminds me of my little buddy. Hopefully when i get a little more skilled with a camera and clean my tank a little i can get a good shot of him!

Secondly, i have been to a lot of driftwood sellers websites and i have found some interesting ones and some i would be willing to buy. But my main concern is the space that will be left in my tank, or if it is even a good idea to buy driftwood. I might also consider some type of rock structure instead if the space gets too tight. I just don't want my fish to be stressed in an empty tank!

 

[TAL]

How about a driftwood section at one end with some planitng (real or fake) around it like the edge of a river...and then at the other end a rock structure like might be found elsewhere in the river.

 

[LtGtR2]

Yeah, I like that idea and now i am considering that i really like the river washed rocks that are realllyyy smooth!

 

[jo3olous]

okay so, HOW safe/unsafe would it be if I were to rob my neighborhood stream of stones and wood? Would standard cleaning procedures work ok?

 

[LtGtR2]

HAHA! yes it would i like blue-ish grays really smooth oval shaped ones that can easy be stacked, and um about the wood ha ha, i wanna buy a fish tank safe one! not carrying any outdoor mold ^_^. You can pay for the shipping too cause last time i check 4x3x2 rocks do not weight the light!

 

[emmanuelchavez]

okay so, HOW safe/unsafe would it be if I were to rob my neighborhood stream of stones and wood? Would standard cleaning procedures work ok?

Boil the wood for a bit, then let it bake in the sun to kill bacteria. You could do the same with the rocks too - it's much easier to clean the rocks though. Make sure you treat the rocks for carbonates.

 

[emmanuelchavez]

Doesn;t or isn;t is possible for driftwood to change your pH a bit?

Rocks will do this more-so.

 

[LtGtR2]

In the long haul i live in NH so finding rivers and streams and everything really isn't hard for me so plenty of rocks only minutes away!

 

[emmanuelchavez]

In the long haul i live in NH so finding rivers and streams and everything really isn't hard for me so plenty of rocks only minutes away!

Lucky! I'm a geology student living in a city with essentially no rocks! Unless you count countertops and buildings... like my building at work, covered entirely in potassium-felspar-rich granite with some rapakivi.... I'm such a rock nerd.

 

[LtGtR2]

I live in New Hampshire - THE GRANITE STATE ha ha =) i cannot walk more then like 2 feet outside with out running into a rock! There's no such thing as a nerd your just more experienced then others, intelligent maybe?! but experienced sounds better .

 

[Fishyluv123]

Boil the wood for a bit, then let it bake in the sun to kill bacteria. You could do the same with the rocks too - it's much easier to clean the rocks though. Make sure you treat the rocks for carbonates.

Ok - so I'm new to fishtanks overall and I was wondering about driftwood as well. I'd be making my own so if I were to get a fruit tree piece of wood, boil it, then bake it in the oven for a short time would that be OK?

It's cold winter right now so I can't bake it in the sun...an oven is hot and dry but it worries me - and probably sounds like a stupid question too...