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Collected some wood on a walk...

AdoraBelle Dearheart

AdoraBelle Dearheart

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Shed for scale ;)
It's a young silver birch tree that some yobs broke off in my local park a couple of years ago maybe. They broke it off maybe a foot from the ground, so this is basically a whole tree. I came across it and thought, hmm, Birch is safe for tanks, isn't it? I wonder if it's dried out by now? And got some funny looks carrying it home.

Will saw through it to check it's fully dried out, but what do you think @NCaquatics? It was you who inspired me to get out collecting!
Obviously I'd need to cut it up a bit. I don't have a 5000 gallon it could go in whole.
 
what birds you got in the aviary???

Could actually divide that branch and use some for your tanks and the other for your birds!! Birch is bird safe too.

Strip the bark off for the fish but leave the bark for the birds. Use the top 1/3 for the tanks, the branchiness of it would be nice.
 
NCaquatics said:
what birds you got in the aviary???

Could actually divide that branch and use some for your tanks and the other for your birds!! Birch is bird safe too.

Strip the bark off for the fish but leave the bark for the birds. Use the top 1/3 for the tanks, the branchiness of it would be nice.
Click to expand...
Was thinking I'd be using a section of it for my Amazon, he always appreciates a new perch to peel!

The aviaries are my dads, this one has a few budgies, some bourkes parakeets and a pair of diamond doves. His other aviary has zebra and bengalese finches. Oh, and my mum has a Hahns macaw too. It's a noisy house :)
 
AdoraBelle Dearheart said:
Was thinking I'd be using a section of it for my Amazon, he always appreciates a new perch to peel!

The aviaries are my dads, this one has a few budgies, some bourkes parakeets and a pair of diamond doves. His other aviary has zebra and bengalese finches. Oh, and my mum has a Hahns macaw too. It's a noisy house :)
Click to expand...
haha but bourkes! Those are nice little birds.

Yeah your Amazon would definitely love the branch!

If you got a saw you could also cut some of it into little discs, drill a hole in the middle and string them up as a toy too.
Drill larger holes inside the discs and shove treats inside...

(I've got 2 cockatiels myself, noisy little things lol)
 
NCaquatics said:
haha but bourkes! Those are nice little birds.

Yeah your Amazon would definitely love the branch!

If you got a saw you could also cut some of it into little discs, drill a hole in the middle and string them up as a toy too.
Drill larger holes inside the discs and shove treats inside...

(I've got 2 cockatiels myself, noisy little things lol)
Click to expand...
I know, remember you shared a video of your tank and I said I could hear a cockatiel or two? And that you needed to change the battery in your smoke alarm? ;) I loved the cockatiels we had when I was a kid. My brother and I used to steal and eat their sunflower seeds. Until one day, we tried the dried chillies...

I do use real wood as perches for the birds, but have never tried to make homemade toys, and parrot toys are expensive as hell, so thank you for that tip! Will definitely give that a try!
 
Yes, Birch wood is safe for your tank. Just make sure you wash it off really good.

You may want to go find another birch brand that is more “branchy” than that one - to be honest, a plain stick in a tan doesn’t look that good, you know what I mean? ;)
 
I like the look of the scapes where the branch sticks out of the top of the tank.. it sort of extends the aquarium into the room rather than it ending as the traditional box.. not sure if thats an option for you? You'd need the light to be suspended above..
 
PheonixKingZ said:
Yes, Birch wood is safe for your tank. Just make sure you wash it off really good.

You may want to go find another birch brand that is more “branchy” than that one - to be honest, a plain stick in a tan doesn’t look that good, you know what I mean? ;)
Click to expand...
With wood, it's all about what you do with it! I might end up finding this too thick to really work in my size tanks, or that it won't work with the other bits I collected, but the branchy bits at the top could make a cool feature. At the least, I can build a new parrot stand and toys for my Amazon parrot, so it won't go to waste.

You gotta open your mind a bit to creative scapes, rather than just buying a pretty piece of driftwood already prepared for you. With the right plants around in, in the right size and arrangement, I think it could look great. But there's always personal taste to take into account. I'm not a big fan of anacharis for example, I call it pondweed and think it's ugly, but if you love it, it's no skin off my nose :)
mbsqw1d said:
I like the look of the scapes where the branch sticks out of the top of the tank.. it sort of extends the aquarium into the room rather than it ending as the traditional box.. not sure if thats an option for you? You'd need the light to be suspended above..
Click to expand...
I love the look of scapes like that! I haven't learned enough about how to do it safely, but I would love one sometime. They add a lot of visual interest. Fish jumping out would be my biggest worry, plus dust and things falling in, so I don't know what people with those type of scapes do about those things, but I'm very open to learning!
 
AdoraBelle Dearheart said:
With wood, it's all about what you do with it! I might end up finding this too thick to really work in my size tanks, or that it won't work with the other bits I collected, but the branchy bits at the top could make a cool feature. At the least, I can build a new parrot stand and toys for my Amazon parrot, so it won't go to waste.

You gotta open your mind a bit to creative scapes, rather than just buying a pretty piece of driftwood already prepared for you. With the right plants around in, in the right size and arrangement, I think it could look great. But there's always personal taste to take into account. I'm not a big fan of anacharis for example, I call it pondweed and think it's ugly, but if you love it, it's no skin off my nose :)

I love the look of scapes like that! I haven't learned enough about how to do it safely, but I would love one sometime. They add a lot of visual interest. Fish jumping out would be my biggest worry, plus dust and things falling in, so I don't know what people with those type of scapes do about those things, but I'm very open to learning!
Click to expand...
I cant wait to see how it turns out!
 
JuiceBox52 said:
I cant wait to see how it turns out!
Click to expand...
Thank you love, I can't wait either, lol! I'm still a newb so don't expect anything too mind blowing, but plan to have fun with it and keep changing things up til I'm happy with them, and will start tank journals so I can see how they progress and get some feed back. :)
 
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