Bogwood And Slate

[markandjanice]

i am going to be creating a new set up in the next few weeks and trying to get some ideas together.

i have seen slate and bogwood in a local shop, £4.99 for large pieces of bogwood and £6.99 for large pieces of slate. my question is how do i prep this before putting in my tank? do they have to be pre-soaked, cleaned and if so what are the best methods please? i think bogwood is going to be a definate for decorative reasons along with some plants.

i have a smaller tank which i also considering putting a small piece of bogwood in the tank and also need to know the best way to prep the wood as this tank is set up and running

i will be keeping tropical fish, tetras, danios, mollys, etc.

 

[Livewire88]

i am going to be creating a new set up in the next few weeks and trying to get some ideas together.

i have seen slate and bogwood in a local shop, £4.99 for large pieces of bogwood and £6.99 for large pieces of slate. my question is how do i prep this before putting in my tank? do they have to be pre-soaked, cleaned and if so what are the best methods please? i think bogwood is going to be a definate for decorative reasons along with some plants.

i have a smaller tank which i also considering putting a small piece of bogwood in the tank and also need to know the best way to prep the wood as this tank is set up and running

i will be keeping tropical fish, tetras, danios, mollys, etc.

Hello,

Just give the slate a good scrub with plain hot tap water and it should be good to go.

With the bog wood you will want to soak it in hot water over a period of a few days to a week to remove as much Tannin's as possible, otherwise your water will turn the color of Tea. This wont be any problem for your fish but if you are anything like me and like crystal clear water it will do your head in. I tend to put unused bog wood into a bucket of hot water and leave it for 5-6 hours then change the dirty water for clean hot water, I do this for about a week to remove as much Tannin's as possible then on the final soak I add some dechlorinator in the water, then the wood should be ready to add to your tank.

 

[markandjanice]

thanks livewire i just replied to your thread, i asked the people in pets at home and they're pretty clueless, tho they did say they would sell me bogwood from there tanks which have been in there sometimes. hope i helped you also

thanks for the advice mate

 

[paulyoung666]

i bought 3 pieces of bogwood from P&H , and it didnt turn the water colour at all , it was bogwood though and not mopani , the last mopani i had turned the water so brown i took it out

 

[markandjanice]

just had a total bonus, got a beautiful piece of bogwood soaking, great centre piece, like a platform with an off centre middle piece sticking up its going to look great, and to top that i live in barrow in furness, cumbria, england and i live by a local quarry and spoke to a guy who said he will get me as much slate as i need, ive asked for some 8"x6" piece and fancy making a rockery, he said no problems and will deliver 20-30 size piece for £10 cover petrol costs.

just wondered tho how or what i have to do before putting in my tank, its natural slate, are we sure plain old scrubbing works? thanks guys and gals

 

[minnnt]

scrub it with plain hot water and bosh it in.

 

[markandjanice]

scrub it with plain hot water and bosh it in.

thanks, worth a boil?

 

[minnnt]

Nope. If there are any air pockets inside it then they can expand and explode.

 

[markandjanice]

Nope. If there are any air pockets inside it then they can expand and explode.

thanks again minnnt, i'm going to creat a nice rockery affect, got lovely piece of bogwood soaking now too, thanks again

 

[ZoddyZod]

Just a tip - slate in garden centers is normally cheaper than at an lfs.

 

[markandjanice]

Just a tip - slate in garden centers is normally cheaper than at an lfs.

thanks zoddy, someone who lives in my hometown works at a quarry, said he'll get me 20-30 piece of 8x6" pieces of slate for £10 BARGAIN

 

[minnnt]

Just a tip - slate in garden centers is normally cheaper than at an lfs.

thanks zoddy, someone who lives in my hometown works at a quarry, said he'll get me 20-30 piece of 8x6" pieces of slate for £10 BARGAIN

Sounds good mate.

Use the slate to hold the bogwood in place.

 

[markandjanice]

Just a tip - slate in garden centers is normally cheaper than at an lfs.

thanks zoddy, someone who lives in my hometown works at a quarry, said he'll get me 20-30 piece of 8x6" pieces of slate for £10 BARGAIN

Sounds good mate.

Use the slate to hold the bogwood in place.

yeh cant believe how quickly everythings coming together now, this forum is amazing for help and advice, been around ebay, and facebook pages seek and sell locally and just brilliant! cant wait!

going to write a new post tomorrow on how to get my tank running as its currently set up by someone else but i have a new external filter etc.

too tired to write it now so if you have any input please read tomorrow morning and help me

thanks once again and yes it should be nice when its done, slate, couple bits of bogwood and in time plants, nice, clean, classy and some nice tight shoaling tetras and cherry barbs

 

[minnnt]

Sounds great!

If you're using the cycled media in the new external filter then ensure you put it all in the new filter. Ideally somewhere from the middle downwards. This helps to seed the rest of the media quicker.