Treating a new piece of bogwood?

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » 02 Nov 2003, 19:44

Hi all.
How do you lot treat a new piece of bogwood?Im soaking it in water at minute replacing it daily and plan on doing so for about two weeks.It has what I think is a bit of fungus on it.I dont want this to harm my zebra plecos so any advice is welcome!!!

Post by **Silurus** » 02 Nov 2003, 19:48

You are doing OK so far. I would remove the fungus by hand, but should not worry too much about it.
From my experience, fungus that grows on driftwood should not harm fish.

Post by **Barbie** » 02 Nov 2003, 20:25

I had a few pieces of mopani root wood that did that. I just simply took them out of the barrel I was soaking them in and scrubbed them vigorously with a stiff bristle brush. It didn't reappear within a week, so I put the driftwood in the tanks with my fish and they happily made sure it never made a repeat performance

Barbie

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » 03 Nov 2003, 22:00

Brilliant,Thanks for advice.I will get to work on that fungus with my girlfriends toothbrush.Ha Ha only joking

Post by **Coryman** » 03 Nov 2003, 22:19

martin808,

What was the source of the wood, did you purchase it or find it, how you are treating the wood is OK but wood is not needed in a set up for H. zebra, unlike many Barryancistrus species, they do not ingest wood as part of their diet and the tanins that leach from the wood may not be to their liking.

Ian

polkadot · Post by **polkadot** » 03 Nov 2003, 23:25

I usually soaked them in boiling water first, then scrub around the wood.

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » 04 Nov 2003, 20:38

Hi Coryman,
I purchased the wood from a reputable shop, no way am I going to put anything in the tank that I found on a walk!
The reasons Im including it in my tank are that one of my smaller zebras seem to has taken a liking to eating , I think its also good for hiding places for them and I like the look of it .
In the cat e log I seem to remember it saying that it is best to include bogwood just in case they decide they like it.

Neo · Post by **Neo** » 11 Nov 2003, 03:04

i agree, when i had zebra's before they took a liking to it so i always use it with them now, n the tank i have ready for the ones im getting of Graham has a good few pieces for them to chew, hide, play on etc