Long Mesquite tree branch curing in tank

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

CWO4GUNNER

USN/USCG 1974-2004 Weps
If things don't change soon (no bad smell, fungi under control) Im going to tie the log down to the big lava rocks using 1 or 2 strands of aluminum wire. I'm also thinking of drilling a couple holes in the log to accept artificial aquatic plant stems, you know the kind that have little male/female sockets that pop-off the main stem. If it turns out be be aesthetic instead instead of little-mermaid corny, ill place stems all over it. Then Ill move ahead with stocking provided the feeders are not disturbed or threatened, goodness knows they have paid their dues and I have promised them a homeland in the form a a backyard pond.
 

CWO4GUNNER

USN/USCG 1974-2004 Weps
UPDATE!!!!!!

My Craiglist ($120) 210 long tank although fully cycled is still having the 80" piece of Mesquite wood being precessed by my feeder fish and Koi who have joined into the fungus feast. They have really done an excellent job keeping the hair fungus short on the decaying log and the bark layer is starting to crack and shrink as evident at the trunk end, but I think still not soft and lose enough to be removed by 2000 PSI pressure washing easily. The log has been in the tank non-stop now for almost 2 months and since the Goldies don't mind keeping it clean from goo and fungus a few more weeks in the tank shouldn't hurt.

I did get tired of it floating though and since it is not nearly as buoyant as it was when it started out, I decided to tie it down with a piece of aluminum wire so that the inaccessible goo and fungus that was floating could be processed by the fish. Look at them gobble it up, reminds me of Thanksgiving! Once the log sinks the unsightly wire will be removed.


 

CWO4GUNNER

USN/USCG 1974-2004 Weps
UPDATE: In review some of you know the 80" Mesquite tree branch that had sat outside all summer and baked in the 100+ degree heat, I was trying to water-log cure inside my 85" tank using gold fish to eat control fungus growth and rot goo which that have done an excellent job. The tree branch has been in the water now for without being removed for 40 days and the fungus and goo have stopped and the bark is starting to crack and, split and get pulled off by by fish.

So Its time to remove the branch and take it outside and try and fire up my old Honda 2000 PSI pressure washer and strip off the bark lickity-split. Either that or Ill be scraping it off by hand Noooo! I'll post photos of the pressure-washed results if Im successful. In themean time here are pics of the cracking log starting to cause debris in my tank. Oh and encase your wondering I don't keep goldfish per-say, most of these fish are 12 cent feeders that have been with me for a long time either cycling tanks, testing out new water conditioner products and new procedures, and normally live 1 or 2 to a tank as they make excellent catfish inside other tropical and even cichlid tank communities as excellent sand sifters and turd dissolves for filter pickup. Eventually they get recycled but are my work horses.



 
Last edited:

CWO4GUNNER

USN/USCG 1974-2004 Weps
To continue I too the tree branch out of the tank which still wanted to flow and not quite waterlogged in the sinking sense and although the tank water doesn't smell, up close it diden't smell like a good dancing partner.

Below my trusty 1991 Honda 2500 PSI pressure washer still works like that day I bought it new. They really know how to build an engine.

Below rather then spending hours stripping away old bark by hand the Mesquite branch bark just unzipped under the pressure washer which came off easier then stripping off old furniture finish which is another trick you can do with a pressure washer instead of harder. This is a prime example of finding ways to do things more efficient, nothing lazy about that.

Below the branch back in the tank tied down until hopefully waterlogged. Next step for this 210 tank will be fish selection, still something I haven't committed to. While deciding Ill be working on my 160 tank project.



 

thebrandon

I like fish
Jan 29, 2009
1,846
0
36
Tucson, AZ
I did the same thing with a mesquite stump that was too big to prep properly. Got the weird smell/fungus for a little while but at the time I had a crayfish who loved eating it lol.

Most of my wood I just chuck in the tank now after that experience. I regularly go and collect manzanita wood then sun dry, then put into a water troft to soak or directly in the tank. Usually the fish and other critters enjoy eating the fuzz that developes.
 

CWO4GUNNER

USN/USCG 1974-2004 Weps
Sorry about the slow replay as I have been taking care of business matters these last few days and then discovered last night that my giant Oscars laid a bunch of eggs, what to do.

That 210 tank with the large mesquite branch and stocked with Koi has continued to maintain a 0 ammonia and 5 PPM Nitrate reading since I 1st set the tank up without a water change. The large branch continues to chnage color from all white to dark brown with gray blotches. No longer putting out any fungus or smell but definetely still going through denitrification and in the process comsuming nitrates and converting it to nitrogen gas which leaves the tank. Eventually the wood denutrification will slow to a crawl and nitrates will againe start to clime but never at the rate of other tanks without this wood. Ill post a pic shortly as Im still bushed from working today.
 

67chevelle

Basset Hound
Jul 30, 2008
2,286
2
38
As much as I like having driftwood in my tanks, I'm not quite sure I like the light color of that piece. Is it darkening up any? How do you like it?
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store