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What to soak my wood in?

Krishs Bettas

Member
Joined
10 May 2009
Messages
422
Sorry if this seems silly but can i soak the wood in plain tap water. The reason why i was wondering about this would be that the chlorine soaked into the wood might affect the fish?
 
An alternative to soaking in hot water is to shower your wood. In my student room I had a shower which was very handy for cleaning off dust and bits from wood, with really hot water.

I always soaked wood in tap water and never had any problems. As you soak the wood for several days - weeks the chlorine gasses off anyway.
 
Just add Purigen to your filter. Then you can put the wood in straight away. QED.

Dave.
 
Do you think i can drill at screw through it and attach it to a piece of slate. Would the slate and screw affect the water quality. And last question does anyone know if manzi wood relases tannins?
 
simply fill up a water butt?new clean bin with water let it so keep changing the water.

messing around with screws is too much work and unless there galvanised will rust in the water(it would take time but it woul eventually happen) also i wouldnt be to sure about the screw in the water effecting the shrimp so just go the good old fashion route.

my manzi never realised tannis :D
 
I have used screws to hold wood in certain positions, and chose the type that are for outdoor decking. They have a matt green anodised finish to them. The way I see it, no matter how fast a screw corrodes it's not enough to harm the fish or shrimps. With us doing regular water changes. Maybe someone can speak from experience and correct me here, but I think so long as you cover the head of the screw that is exposed with a smear of silicone, then everything is hidden and you're taking enough precaution to be free of problems that could, at an outside chance arise.

I would try to avoid using your screwgun under water though :D
 
The silicone will fix the head of the screw but the wood is loaded with water and the inside WILL go rusty n crudy.
Unless its meant for use outside like you said and even then its just unnecessary......its wood....soak it...it will then sink? Am I missing something here??

If u want it to hold a shape get some of the egg crate reefers use n glue it to that, or just tie it together.

Ryan
 
Yeah you missed that the OP wants to attach a piece of wood to some slate. And he suggested screwing them together.

Read before ya delve in lol :)
 
gfish ....dont talk so much giiiiiiib, im not 5 i dont need to be told to re read it.

I was on under the impression that the slate was to weigh down the wood.

If it was;

Use glue or putty that is made to hold rock together in marine tanks.

If it was for looks;

Use glue or putty that is made to hold rock together in marine tanks
Who wants a screw in there scape???
 
You ain't 5 but you're a tad touchy. I was having a laugh, come on! You did ask "was I missing something"?

Anyway, let's not stray from the thread topic, these things can become tedious.

I personally don't have a problem and have not had a problem using screws into bogwood. It doesn't become part of the scape because it's hidden.

Use whatever you can to get the desired effect you're after, that's what I say. And as for the worry of the screws corroding and effecting the fish, I can only say it's been ok for me and for a few other guys I've known. As I said though, it's a good idea to choose anodised decking screws.

If you want to use silicone instead, obviously the only thing that could stop you is if the woods already soaked. In which case, what the hell, use both :D

Best of luck, it's all good fun!
 
Hi
If you don't want to use screws use a wooden peg/dowel with a tapered end.......I haven't tried this but this how they made ships before iron came along.........the peg expands over time and you get a tight fit.
Just my 2 groats worth :lol:
hoggie
 
Hi all,
use a wooden peg/dowel with a tapered end
I've done this once or twice, I now usually use a marine grade stainless screw and super-glue because it involves less drilling, but the dowel method definitely works well. If I was trying to fix 2 substantial bits of wood together I would definitely use it again as my method of choice.

cheers Darrel
 
Don't want to jump the thread people, i'm quite new to this myself so ignore this post if it's totally out of the question.... Wouldn't fishing line hold the slate and wood together? or anything you use to tie mosses etc to wood??
 
Hi all,
Wouldn't fishing line hold the slate and wood together? or anything you use to tie mosses etc to wood??
You can certainly try this, it doesn't work very well with cotton thread or fishing line for branches, but I've successfully used this method for tying oak bark to slate. For branches a cable-tie works to some degree, but you are always likely to have slippage and escaping wood. The wooden dowel or screw method are much more secure, particularly for large pieces of wood. For really large construction the wooden dowel method is the best by a distance because it places much less strain on the junction of the timbers, making the wood less likely to split than if you used a screw/screws, think of an Ikea flat pack.

cheers Darrel
 
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