sources for bamboo

bedwetter · Post by **bedwetter** » 20 Sep 2005, 21:15

Where do people buy bamboo from? My LFS says they can't get it and don't know where it is available. I am looking for fairly small pieces for my Panaque maccus, maybe 1-1.5" diameter

Thanks alot
Jeff

gemsonthebottom · Post by **gemsonthebottom** » 20 Sep 2005, 22:26

Any home improvement store should have what you are looking for in the garden department.

djw66 · Post by **djw66** » 20 Sep 2005, 23:33

gemsonthebottom wrote:Any home improvement store should have what you are looking for in the garden department.

Check them closely if you buy them at a home improvement store, as they are often coated with thin lacquer-like substances to preserve them for decorative displays in homes and businesses. Those subtances would most probably leach in the water and kill your fish.

Dave

djw66 · Post by **djw66** » 20 Sep 2005, 23:38

bedwetter wrote:Where do people buy bamboo from? My LFS says they can't get it and don't know where it is available. I am looking for fairly small pieces for my Panaque maccus, maybe 1-1.5" diameter

Thanks alot
Jeff

Just noticed you're in Indiana. You should be able to find them along the banks of any larger creek or smaller river. I'd get bamboo from the banks of the Spring River in Arkansas with a machete I bought at an Army Surplus store. Just make sure its legal to harvest a bit of bamboo in your area. You might ask local fishermen if they know of any stands. You should boil it before putting it in an aquarium.

Certainly beats paying for it.

Dave

jen.nelson · Post by **jen.nelson** » 21 Sep 2005, 03:21

I have an insane amount of bamboo growing in my yard. Is boiling it all I need to do to make it aquarium safe?

Jen

djw66 · Post by **djw66** » 21 Sep 2005, 03:57

jen.nelson wrote:I have an insane amount of bamboo growing in my yard. Is boiling it all I need to do to make it aquarium safe?

Jen

Jen
Short answer is yes. Long answer is you should sun dry any cuttings until they dry out before boiling, as putting a green piece in a tank, boiled or not, invites all kinds of fun stuff, like fungus (speaking from experience here), and a nice pea green tint to the water.

Boil, then soak the pieces to water-log 'em, and that's it. No real difference between the stuff in your yard and the stuff you pay for.

Dave

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Sep 2005, 08:37

For those that do not live in areas where bamboo grows in insane amounts in the garden, the answer is to use your local garden centre. I've been buying varying size "stakes" for about USD $6-$12, depending on length and diameter. The ones I've used are definitely untreated and are meant as some sort of posts for bamboo fences and such.

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Mats

Fish Soup · Post by **Fish Soup** » 21 Sep 2005, 09:42

I'd be careful about store bought bamboo. I was having a problem finding it in my local garden shops. So I contacted a seller on eBay. He claimed most, including his, is imported from China and is sprayed for insects before entering the US.

I'm in need of a few pieces for my L183s. So if anyone has access to a wild stand and wants to sell a few, give me a shout.

Don

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Sep 2005, 10:29

Fish Soup wrote:I'd be careful about store bought bamboo. I was having a problem finding it in my local garden shops. So I contacted a seller on eBay. He claimed most, including his, is imported from China and is sprayed for insects before entering the US.

That's very likely, it certainly would be a risk of spreading all sorts of critters if you didn't treat it in some way. I boil mine before using, as well as soaking it in water for several days to make it sink, changing water every other day or so, and I currently have something like 4 pieces in my big tank, that are 8" long and around 2" diameter, plus a few smaller pieces. I haven't seen any bad effects on the fish, but that may of course be a longer term thing [although I would think that they use a fairly aggressive insecticide that kills things short term, rather than something that is longer lasting and kills slowly. Of course, the effect on fish may be different than on the insects...]

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Mats

bedwetter · Post by **bedwetter** » 21 Sep 2005, 14:34

regarding store-bought bamboo. There is a new law that states ALL imported bamboo must be treated with insecticides. It used to be only the undyed bamboo that required treatment, but apparently many pest insects have been getting in on the dyed bamboo as well. I imagine the boiling and soaking will get rid of most of the insecticided, however.

I will start looking around for bamboo growing around here.

Thanks for the responses!
Jeff

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 23 Sep 2005, 14:57

I have a book here by Peter Hiscock called Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants. On page 96 of the hardcover release of this book, he talks about purchasing "bamboo canes" and treating them with "a clear polyurethane varnish inside and outside." The pictures show pre-dried bamboo. I'm not sure this will work. I haven't tried it. Everything else I've tried from this book has worked, though. My copy is rather dog-eared and water stained.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 23 Sep 2005, 15:07

You can certainly varnish the bamboo with clear (or non-clear) PU varnish. That would make them almost indesctructable to rotting, etc.

My only concern with that would be that the PU may contain additives, such as fungicides that are just as bad as the stuff you're trying to prevent from leaking into the water by varnishing it. Read the label on the PU varnish very carefully.

Also, I quite like the way that the bamboo goes greyish brown after some time in the water. I don't mind the least bit, really.

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Mats

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 23 Sep 2005, 15:12

I wonder how long it takes bamboo from the garden to dry out?

jen.nelson · Post by **jen.nelson** » 23 Sep 2005, 15:41

Given that almost nothing in FL is ever really dried out, I may try heating it in the oven on the lowest setting to dry it out, if it turns out I have pieces that might work for my fish...It works for garden soil...

Jen

djw66 · Post by **djw66** » 23 Sep 2005, 21:19

bronzefry wrote:I wonder how long it takes bamboo from the garden to dry out?

Depends, Bronzefry. Where I lived in Arkansas, it was very sunny and hot, but quite humid. It'd take a couple weeks to a month of sun to dry it thoroughly. The oven thing would probably work as well, and you'd have more control over the drying, but you'd have to be careful about splitting and perhaps fire.

Dave

jen.nelson · Post by **jen.nelson** » 24 Sep 2005, 16:20

The oven thing would probably work as well, and you'd have more control over the drying, but you'd have to be careful about splitting and perhaps fire.

Ah, well, I face one of those two risks every time I cook.

If anything amusing happens, I promise to post pictures.

Jen

kkorotev · Post by **kkorotev** » 24 Sep 2005, 23:02

Do not, under any circumstances, coat/dip/paint your bamboo pieces with ANYTHING...if your intention is for your suckermouths to use them for caves.
They graze on the stuff!
Ancistrus and Panaque will chew them paper thin in a few short months...and if they're coated with something!
Yikes!

Another source is the "Dollar" store or wherever you'd shop for "Tiki" torches. That's where I get mine, anyway...but not anymore this season. The beginning of the outdoor cooking season is best.

My 2 cents worth.
Kevin Korotev
Milwaukee

Icthician · Post by **Icthician** » 26 Sep 2005, 17:29

Here is a source. http://www.lewisbamboo.com/index.html

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 26 Sep 2005, 17:41

Ehm, yes, but buying bamboo that is growing is almost certainly a pretty expensive way of getting some that you can stick in the tank. Unless of course you also want to plant it in the garden and have it grow further before "harvesting" some...

Looking further at the site, you'd probably have to wait for quite some time for the UPS shippable to reach a 1-3" diameter pipe that can be cut up to make pleco caves. Of course, I don't know much about growing bamboo, so I could be wrong...

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Mats

Icthician · Post by **Icthician** » 26 Sep 2005, 20:33

My bad...http://www.lewisbamboo.com/cutpoles.html

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Sep 2005, 09:06

That's better... In fact, excellent. The square bamboo looks very nice, but you'd be spending hundreds before you have a decent cave for a few babies.

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Mats

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