Driftwood or something else?

[erick]

What is something else i can place in my tank that will allow the newts access to a dry area? I have a 10g tank and the water was already fouled once by the driftwood. Im going to boil it today and have had it sitting in water for a day now. Anything else i could use instead of the water fouling driftwood?

 

[joan]

Driftwood will turn your water orange, but this isn't usually a 'bad' thing, unless you have a lot of unseasoned driftwood in a small tank.

You can use floating cork-bark islands, or create an island out of rocks, or put a small tupperware island of dirt on some stilts, which allows you to create land space without compromising water space.

 

[karen]

I've been looking high and low for corkbark islands but haven't been able to find any! Although my newts seem to be happy with their lock-rox, I'm still interested in finding the cork bark. Any ideas?

 

[foster]

tropiflora.com and blackjungle.com are two that immediately come to mind. I have ordered from both companies multiple times over the years and have never had any problems. I'm sure that if you just run a google search you will find other options as well.
Chip

 

[ali]

Karen, you should find the corkbark islands in the hermit crab section of any decent petstore.

 

[s1ren]

HerpSupplies.com carries corkbark, too (raw slabs of bark that you can cut yourself). It's been a couple of years since I used them, but that's where I got mine, and it was fairly cheap.

 

[jazz]

I have a question about the integrity of grapevine in the aquarium. I read on blackjungle.com that it will turn black with fungus.... is this true? and will it harm the newts? I bought a nice piece with a hollow and alcove for hiding places... but now it may be harmful. It isn't in the tank. please let me know, thanks!

 

[kyle]

I have had problems with mold on grapevine in the past... though mine was a greenish/white mold, not a black mold.

(Message edited by uberkye on September 03, 2006)

 

[patrick]

you know, I always wanted to put driftwood in my tanks. Is there any danger getting if from a lake, or would you recommend buying it? I don't care about the color of my water, I just like things to look natural (or at least sort of natural, haha) I don't really want to buy it.

 

[joseph]

You could probably could cut pieces of some dead hardwood you find in the brush or burn piles to use as driftwood...or otherwise well worn pieces in swamps/marshes etc. If it is completely dry I'd think it'd be relatively safe. You might want to bake the wood whether it was wet or dry if you are concerned about nasties from outside.

 

[jennifer]

I'd recommend baking or boiling. Boiling has the advantage that it might make the wood waterlogged (sinking better), and it helps with getting dirt off. If it's very large though, you'd have trouble finding a pot big enough.

 

[jazz]

Still would like to know if anyone thinks the grapevine mold is bad for the beasties... thanks!

 

[joseph]

Jazz: Since you're in CA Manzanita should be pretty easy to get. I hear it works great in aquariums/viviariums but it is incredibly buoyant so forget about getting it to sink naturally if you try it in the water section.

 

[jazz]

ooo.. I could go hiking.