How About This For An Idea?

[The-Wolf]

click thumbnails
1st
take one large piece of wood, in this case Mopani


2nd
take 1 peice of 1.5" ribbed pipe (as used for pond pumps)


3rd
turn the wood over and following its natural contors....


....guide the pipe to create a tunnel. secure the ends with nickel plated or brass screws, be sure they don't emerge on the face of the wood.


4th
all done, now add to your tank.


I have done this for my polypterus and it will go in one of my tanks next week when I do a major revamp on it.
Watch this space.

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

Not sure why this has had no replies, i think its a great idea and will be trying it soon. Great post

 

[Rooster]

Not sure if I have my blonde head on... but WHY ? If theres a void for the pipe in the first place whats the pipe doing ?

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

Not sure if I have my blonde head on... but WHY ? If theres a void for the pipe in the first place whats the pipe doing ?

I not sure what you mean? If you mean whats the purpose of the pipe, then it is designed as a great place for the polypterus species aka birchirs to hide in. Many people just put the bits of pipe in the tank for them to hide, well wolf has come up with a way to disguise the pipe and make the tank look more natural

 

[The-Wolf]

Not sure why this has had no replies, i think its a great idea and will be trying it soon. Great post

I know why, but can't say as it would cause controversy

thanks to you Michael, at least you have manners

 

[xingumike]

Intriguing idea i will interested to see how they take to it.

I assume you are not worried about the screws leaching anything into the wood/water? that would be my only concern but i am not a chemist so im unsure!

 

[The-Wolf]

Intriguing idea i will interested to see how they take to it.

I assume you are not worried about the screws leaching anything into the wood/water? that would be my only concern but i am not a chemist so im unsure!

I have used 3/4 inch nickel plated screws and the smallest tank it is going in is 62G (may go in my 100g)
even if they did rust such a small amount of ferric oxide would not have a great impact as neither tank is heavily planted.
perhaps in heidnsight brass would be totally safe rather than nickel plated, but i have no brass screws to hand

 

[xingumike]

Intriguing idea i will interested to see how they take to it.

I assume you are not worried about the screws leaching anything into the wood/water? that would be my only concern but i am not a chemist so im unsure!

I have used 3/4 inch nickel plated screws and the smallest tank it is going in is 62G (may go in my 100g)
even if they did rust such a small amount of ferric oxide would not have a great impact as neither tank is heavily planted.
perhaps in heidnsight brass would be totally safe rather than nickel plated, but i have no brass screws to hand

Good to know! everyday is a school day!

 

[Rooster]

Id use a hot glue gun....

 

[CFC]

To errr on the side of caution i would recomend stainless steel screws or fixing the tube with aquarium silicone, rusting metal raises the iron levels in the tank to massive levels which sensative species like catfish loaches eels and puffers cant tollerate.

How do i know this?

A friend of mine had an unidentified problem with her tank, any catfish she added would gradually become more and more unhealthy before eventually dying while other fish in the tank remained in full health and plants flourished, all the usuall tests showed nothing untoward and there were no obvious reasons for the problems, it had us all stumped.

Then one Sunday afternoon i was at their house while they were doing some water changes, from my angle on the sofa i could clearly see the lighting tubes that were normally obscured by the water line (Juwel Rio tank) and holding these tubes were 4 very rusty metal clips, suddenly it all clicked into place, rust dripping into the tank from the lamp fittings was poisoning certain fish, and also explained the unnaturally healthy plant growth without special lighting or CO2, a water sample taken to the lfs and tested for iron confirmed this. These clips were meant to be plated and safe for aquarium use but obviously werent.