"Flooded Forest" Aquarium

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eesafe

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Dec 22, 2002
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I am trying to start a "flooded forest" look for my central american Cichlids. Something like the Amazon during the rainy season. The problem is finding a centerpiece tree trunk for the display. Does anyone know if there are any companies that make an artificial tree trunk ~16 inches high? Or what type of wood is good for this effect? I have seen Habba Huts for reptiles that are the right idea, but are they safe for an aquarium? Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks
 
Hello eesafe,
Great choice for a tank setup:P ... similar to what I have done with my 75 gallon South american tank. Personally I would use a large piece of drift wood for the "tree trunk" as artifical stuff usually ends up looking, well, artifical. You could also try making your own background out of plastic, fiberglass or styrofoam. http://cichlidinspiration.net3services.com/ under the background section has some good articles.

Here is a pick of my 75 gallon http://www.foydl.com/~awernher/safrontlg.jpg

I was going to use that piece as a tree trunk but i didn't feel like cutting the top down so it would fit in the tank that day so I ended up putting it on its "side"... I might do it later. I found a wood shop around here that has hundreds of large pieces for cheap... (that piece in my tank was 12 or 14 bucks I think)... he has a wide selection or root systems. If you are interested let me know and I will take some pics of pieces he has... you might see something that could work for you.
 
eesafe, I have a similiar setup that I will try and post pics of as soon as I get some. I bought a cool looking stump at Petsmart that fits what you are describing. I found it in the reptile section of the store.

It's plastic and very light weight. My JD's have used it to breed in several times.
 
eesafe:
I'm not sure how close you are to a body of water, but I've had awesome success with pieces of driftwood that I've grabbed from the shoreline. (I've tried to include a pic of a nice 12" piece I have for my 55g)

The only advice I'd give to you is to soak the piece in a bucket of water for a good week or so with regular water changes before adding it to your tank, just to make sure the piece is rid of all junk that you don't want in your aquascape.

Hey just a question - are you planning to have the driftwood jut out of the top of your aquarium? If so, how will you be lighting it? I've seen tanks like the one you described done really, really cool, and I'd love to see the pics when you are done with it.

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/rmcdevit...c/rmcdevitt40/lst?&.dir=/Fish&.src=ph&.view=t
 
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