Anyone ever put wood in their tank?

[Crusty Old Shellback]

So I've got an idea for aquascaping my 400g tank. I want to put some wood in it to represent pier pilings. But I'm wondering how to go about it. A couple of ideas I have so far:

Get real wood piling and seal in fiberglass resign.
Get real wood pilings and seal in a clear epoxy.
Get some large PVC, cap it, fill with concrete. Paint it to look like wood. Seal with fiberglass resign or epoxy.
Find some ceramic piling replicas.

Any other ideas or ways people have done something like this?

 

[reefish123]

I was told wood has some type of chemical in it, don't know of they use it for cutting or to give it some type of integrity. I'd look more into this.
Can't recall what I wanted to do with wood, I know I wasn't planning on adding it to a tank for sure.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Yes, wood does have chemicals in it, some worse than others depending on the wood. That's why I was looking for a good way to seal it with epoxy or fiberglass.

Woodworking is one of my other hobbies.

 

[dodgerblew]

Good question for the Tanked people. I would personally find it to risky to seal it. I would want to make something more on the lines of faux wood. Just my .02

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

OK. But what can I use?

I basically want to build a "pier" on 1/3 of the tank. Pilings down in the water, held together with rope and an actual pier on top. About 2" space between the boards so that some light gets down in the tank.

I can build the piling out of PVC pipe maybe and paint/seal to look like wood. The "pier" maybe use plastic deck boards?

 

[reefish123]

OK. But what can I use?

I basically want to build a "pier" on 1/3 of the tank. Pilings down in the water, held together with rope and an actual pier on top. About 2" space between the boards so that some light gets down in the tank.

I can build the piling out of PVC pipe maybe and paint/seal to look like wood. The "pier" maybe use plastic deck boards?

Sound like a crazy cool idea.... specially if you use it to hold SPS

wonder if epoxy can be harmful? I was just looking at youtube vid last night using epoxy to give furniture the showcase gloss.
Never done so I'm definitely gonna give it a try.

 

[pciscott]

Find something made of Resin and modify for your needs??? Here is something below, cut the Pelicans off and seal up with Epoxy.

http://www.wayfair.com/Design-Toscano-Oceans-Perch-Pelican-Statue-QL56458-TXG1725.html

 

[discotu]

humm i wouldn't use real wood just because of the chemicals, tannins, and you'll be hard pressed to find negatively buoyant wood...besides, anything you use will likely get covered with some type of growth or another so you might as well use a different material.

If i were to do it, i'd find a nice log ~5" dia with a lot of character....lots of cracks and deep splits along the grain. these are the features that will stick out. stand it on end and create a tube or box around it...then pour a rubber mold. once it's set tear away the box and cut a partline around rubber mold along the length of the log. then pull the two rubber mold halves apart and remove the log. Now you have a mold! You'll probably have to use some sort of silicone spray on the log...like litterally douse it so it releases from the mold after it's cured.

or...you might be able to find decorative concrete logs at a nursery...or for gas fireplaces?

 

[sonnus]

Certainly don't use any treated lumber! Most, if not all pilings are treated with copper-based pesticides, that's what gives treated lumber the typical green color. Some of the older timbers are treated with creosote which is petroleum based.

I think driftwood would be no problem but it would be difficult to get the bulky large diameter you're going for.

I think a better option is to use Aragocrete and do a faux wood finish. This is what most public aquaria do when they are going for the pier or shipwreck motif. You could use a 5-6" PVC pipe and wrap it with plastic mesh as a lathe.

Here's a picture off Google of faux wood out of concrete.

 

[King Nikon]

^ What this guy said, no wood is really safe unless it's drift wood because it's been soaking in water for so long all the chemicals leeched a long time ago into the water. Even driftwood leeches tannins into the water, I've got some in an old freshwater tank and for a few years the water was always a brownish tinge because of it.

Faux is the best way to go, most if not all of anything you put in the tank is going to turn into coralline so it doesn't really matter if the concrete isn't appealing. Eventually it will be when it's a mix of both.

 

[toshiba]

I wouldn't.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I'll look into some resign. My tank is 3 feet tall so that makes it hard to find something. So no one has any ideas about enclosing it in fiberglass resin?

 

[discotu]

Enclosing wood in resin? Again you'll be fighting the buoyancy issue. More so by sealing it In resin since water won't be able to penetrate it. Archimedes principle. Good luck securing a 3 foot log under salt water (more buoyant)

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

The log will be standing up with an actual "pier" on top. Yes I want to build an actual 2' X 2' pier in my tank. call me crazy.

The plan is to have the top of the pier sitting on the top of the tank with just about 1" of it down in the water. The coloums will be in the water. And yes, I understand trying to get it to sink. I was thinking if I drill out the middle, I could fill it with rocks/metal, before I seal it to help it sink.

I'm just wondering if there is something good to seal it with that will hold up over time underwater.

If I use faux wood, i.e. concrete, do I need to seal it as well?

 

[BeanMachine]

Please share this build once you get started Crusty... I am really interested in seeing it come together.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I will, once I figure out how to do it and make it work.

The plan is basically 3 round "logs", each about 5" in dia, tied togther with some rope. A frame 2" X 4" mountd to the logs so that it sits in the water. A top deck "pier" of 2" X 4" "wood across the top of the frame with gaps of about an inch between them. This way some light will still get down into the tank under the "pier".

My tank is 7' long, 2.5' wide and 3' tall. The "pier" will be about 2.5' X 2' at one end.

I'm thinging I can use some of the plastic "wood" that is used for decking. Just not sure how to attach it. Maybe screws and seal with silicone or something similar.

My tank sits in a 12' X 30' sun room addition I built on the back of the house. The boss (wife) wants to redo the room to look more like a beach. So I figured if it's going to be a beach, then you need a pier.


Ok, I found this. Any idea about using the liquid nails? If i seal with a epoxy/fiberglass will that work?

http://www.garageofevilnetwork.com/profiles/blogs/how-to-create-wooden-pilings

 

[discotu]

buoyancy is defined by how much on object weights compared to the amount of volume of liquid it displaces. the volume of water a 36" X 5" dia log will displace is roughly 3 gals X 3 logs = 9 gals. 1 gal of SW weights almost 9lbs X 9 gals = 81 lbs just to be neutrally buoyant. You'll need over 100lbs of weight if not more to make sure this is negatively buoyant so it won't move. to put this in perspective, try pushing an empty 5gal jug underwater.

Maybe you can use 5" dia clay drain pipes and use a dremel to cut grain lines into it to mimic wood. Im sure you could hire a sculpter to do it for you. this way the "log" is hollow and you can cut access holes for fish etc.

there's no easy way to do this...but I can picture the light rays shimmering through the planks...very cool.

 

[westminsterfrag]

Have someone in high schools make you some with clay. After they cook it and glaze it I think you should be good. Not sure though.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Yea, the more I search, the harder it seems to be. When I get some time, I may try making some 'logs" out of PVC and see how the come out. Then seal with a good clear epoxy.

next step will be to get them to sink. maybe fill them with rocks. I didn't want to leave them open as i am afraid if stagnent water in them causing issues. And I've never seen pilings with holes in them for fish to swim thru.

 

[discotu]

i was thinking about PVC too..maybe you could coat it with epoxy then roll it in aragonite or fine sand to give it texture...then add decorative pieces like barnacles and rope. when i mentioned cutting holes, it was thinking on the back side of the logs so it wouldn't be visible from the front.

come to think of it, i wonder if you cut a bunch of slots on the back then line it with screen sheets. Then fill with sand. I imagine it would create anaerobic zones inside and act as a passive "DSB" reactor. hummm