How long to boil Coconut shells?

[Skittyfish]

See subject. Do I just boil for 2 or 3 minutes or should I boil longer?

The Skeptical Aquarist says to steep over night. Do I pour boiling water over the shell and let it sit over night? Obviously I don't boil it all night.:confused:

[beviking]

hi Skittyfish, steeping overnight just allows any color to leach out of the shell so it doesn't turn your water brown. You only need to boil it for 2-3 minutes. I've never done this personally so I can't recommend an amount of water to steep it in. You could ask the nut...I mean skeptic :rolleyes: by pm'ing him (he's on this forum on occasion - wetmanNY) but I'm afraid you'll get a page or two on how to make a cup of tea, which one is better for your fish, etc... :eek: !

[wetmanNY]

I hear my name taken in vain...

When the Skeptical Aquarist suggests "steep" --what he really means, is "steep."

As for boiling the coconut shells, it depends. If you're going to fill them with ricotta and eat them, you'd better boil them all night long.

Sorry to be so long-winded in general...

heh heh heh heh...

[Skittyfish]

Now, I am a smart woman, but I don't drink tea. So i just boiled them in a big pot until the water no longer looked like tea. I only put a small piece in the aquarium with willow moss tied to it. So far so good. I will add the rest today or tomorrow. (got one shell nearly whole:eek: , not quite sure how I managed that).

Now all I have to do is decide what I am going to get to live in them....Kribs or Apistos.

Thanks nut... I mean Wetman:D

[catjo]

Bought one about a month ago and didn't boil it at all; just washed it off and stuck it in the tank! No problems whatsoever, not even staining but it is in a 125 so that's probably why. Best of luck!

[Ozone]

I did the same when I got my pair of kribs rinse it and put it in my 29G tank without any trouble didn't turn my water brown or any thing know I have my kribs fry swimming around in it;) good luck!:D

[beviking]

Originally posted by wetmanNY

Sorry to be so long-winded in general...



Long-winded???? Informative is what I would say. Truth be told, I like it!

Skittyfish, sounds like you've got it. Nice jab to the New Yorker by the way. Are you smart because you don't drink tea? I thought only women drank tea anyway. Goes to show you how smart I ain't!

Try asking kribs vs. apistos in the cichlid forum. You may get more responses there.

[Sensei_the_dojo]

Originally posted by beviking


Are you smart because you don't drink tea? I thought only women drank tea anyway. Goes to show you how smart I ain't!



:D SSSShhhhh. Careful with the "tea" jokes. Faramir or some other twit from "across the pond" might be lurking. ;)

[wetmanNY]

I knew I was going to get a lotta ribbing when I posted about "Tea with the tetras." But I did learn that green tea is better for them than Earl Grey.

(IThe used teabag in the filter is really about about the tannins in tea that keep iron available to plants, bind Ca and Mg thus mildly softening water blah blah etc etc...)

[lesley]

Sorry to semi-hijack, but where do you find coconut shells? Do you buy them at the LFS or are you buying the coconuts at the grocery store?

[Sensei_the_dojo]

Originally posted by lesley
Sorry to semi-hijack, but where do you find coconut shells? Do you buy them at the LFS or are you buying the coconuts at the grocery store?

:D I usually steal mine from King Arthur's horse stables.

[lesley]

Huh? What's King Arthur's horse stables? And why do they have coconut shells?

[Sensei_the_dojo]

lesley,

You'll have to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail to understand my previous post. ;)

[lesley]

oh!!! clip-clop, clip-clop... now I get it. So really, where do people get them?

[Skittyfish]

I bought two coconuts from Wal-Mart for 60 cents each. Cracked them open with a hammer and GENTLY pried out the coconut. Cheap housing.

[beviking]

Originally posted by Sensei_the_dojo


:D SSSShhhhh. Careful with the "tea" jokes. Faramir or some other twit from "across the pond" might be lurking. ;)

Oh, you're right Sensei. Careful 'cause they might take off a glove and slap me across the face from way over there! Oooooh the horror!!!:D ;)

Yes lesley, the grocery store (or Walmart).

[superstein61]

Yea, I got my coconuts at Wallmart as well. Very cheap - I sawed mine in half and cut out a little opening in each half - Walla two ready made caves.

But for an even nicer effect, get some Java moss and wrap a few pieces around the shell. Tie it on with cotton thread. It will eventually grown in and you will soom have a nice Grassy mound cave in your tank. Just take it out periodically and trim the Java Moss when it starts to get too long

[Bantam]

The tea drinkers will revolt...you have been warned!

[Faramir]

Missed the tea reference.

Tea is drunk by men. You can suggest to the chaps who fixed the gas pipe the other week (and drunk it by the bucket) that they were women, but you had definitely best suggest it from the other side of the Atlantic...

Interesting idea - old teabag in the filter - do you think the fish prefer Ceylon or Tanzanian?

How do they feel about Earl Grey I wonder?

[OrionGirl]

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1528&highlight=tea+with+the+tetras

For those interested in reviewing wetmanNY's orginal post on Tea with the Tetras...And it even covers Earl Grey.

:)

[beviking]

Thanks for the link OrionGirl. I actually shuttered when Faramir asked about Earl Grey!!



Originally posted by Bantam
The tea drinkers will revolt...you have been warned!

To quote Molt from A Bugs Life...

"Shutting up!" :D

[soltrad]

You can order Coconut Shells here

www.villagenterprises.com