Aquarium safe lumber?

[mudbuttjones]

Hey what's up mfk? That's right i said lumber not wood.

I'm a month away from moving into my first real house and I'm brainstorming a new tank for the basement.

Anyway I'm getting back into NA natives and i wanted to make a local lake kindof "biotope"

I want to have a centerpiece in the tank that looks like the footings of a pier. I was thinking a couple 4x4 posts about 2 ft apart with a cross member or two made from 1x4's and making it look like they are nailed together. Maybe toss an old green beer bottle on the substrate. Really make it look like a local Wisconsin lake bottom, lol.

I've got some time to soak the wood. Probably a few months if not more. Obviously pressure treated is a no go.

I'd be looking at hardwoods right? I know pine can leach sap and is too soft. I've heard cedar is bad in aquariums.


Any suggestions?

 

[tomojsg]

im not to sure but ive heard a few people using oak wood but thats
just here say and i have not confirmed it myself. if your creative you
can get some styrofoam and make it, would probably last longer too.
just throwing it out there.

 

[FMA4ME]

im not to sure but ive heard a few people using oak wood but thats
just here say and i have not confirmed it myself. if your creative you
can get some styrofoam and make it, would probably last longer too.
just throwing it out there.

That's what I was thinking, make something. I was thinking about possible using PVC. Texture it, grow a bunch of moss on it, maybe a little camouflage plant near it, I know how well you are at that mud lol, and voila!! Old posts!

 

[mudbuttjones]

this is sort of what I'm thinking. My apologies in advance for my artistic talents.

I'm thinking oak could work. I doubt ill find an oak 4x4 post at the local lumber yard, and I'm sure it would fetch a pretty penny. I might have to hit the woods and find a log or two and shape those down to dimensions.

I like the Styrofoam idea, but I've had bad luck with finishes and or paints holding up underwater.

 

[mudbuttjones]

Ive got some extra canisters i won't be using once i move.

I wanna drill holes and bulkheads close to the bottom pane of glass on the back panel. Then I'm going to run some 3/4" pvc plumbing downwards with an elbow to sit flat on the bottom glass. Then I'm going to build a "screen" of sorts out of light diffuser grate and have that about 1.5" off the bottom glass. Then I'll cap the grate with some golfball sized smooth river rocks. I will have to make a strip to shroud the bottom couple inches of glass on the outside of the tank so you cant see the grate or most of the pvc.

In theory the waste will fall down to through the large rocks, theough the screen and down to the glass where the 3 canister intakes will be drawing.

Basically a new take on the undergravel system. It should be self cleaning except filter maintenance.

 

[tomojsg]

if the paint doesnt hold up coat it with clear coat and itll do the trick.
as for the drawing it looks good as a quick sketch where do i buy
this FX600,000? is it made for a 6000g ? lol XD :rofl:

 

[mudbuttjones]

if the paint doesnt hold up coat it with clear coat and itll do the trick.
as for the drawing it looks good as a quick sketch where do i buy
this FX600,000? is it made for a 6000g ? lol XD :rofl:

I was just trying to impress you guys. I don't really have an FX60k. Just probably going to be a pair of old sunsuns. The house has some nice maple floors from 1920. Figured I'd put the fluvals on my tank upstairs and rotate the sunsuns to the basement tanks. Just in case. Haha

 

[tomojsg]

I was just trying to impress you guys. I don't really have an FX60k. Just probably going to be a pair of old sunsuns. The house has some nice maple floors from 1920. Figured I'd put the fluvals on my tank upstairs and rotate the sunsuns to the basement tanks. Just in case. Haha

lol hahaha

btw do you think the sunsuns will be enough for that tank? how many are you planning on running? and which model?

 

[mudbuttjones]

Right now I've got 2x sunsun 302b's and a sunsun 304b. So I'll be generous and figure 500gph total at head loss with media.

(I clocked my 302's at 115gph versus the advertised 265gph wooohoooo!)

The tank I'll be using is a 75gal I'm storing at my mom's until I move out of my 600sqft apartment in September.

I'm looking at just a few smaller sunfish. Probably a pumpkin seed and some bluegill. Maybe some minnows for dithers. I Dunno yet. I haven't kept natives in a long time.

 

[tomojsg]

isnt the 304b rated for a 175g tank and around 560gph?