Driftwood Okay?

[FishEggs]

well there are several options to use to secure the wood together. the strongest and fastest would probably be screws. I would use stainless steel screws since they won't corrode and leech anything into the water and they dont have any coating that may release chemicals into the water. Of course stainless steel is bright and shiny so best to use them in an inconspicuous place although if you dont mind seeing them for a little bit i'm sure some algae will coat them eventually. Use a drill bit slightly smaller in thickness to predrill a hole in the wood where you want the screw so you dont split the wood when you screw it together.

Another option would be epoxy but you have to find one that creates an inert cured product which i have no clue what kinds you can use but i'm sure someone else who has used them could inform you which to use. Maybe do a search in the DIY forum.

A lot of people just use aquarium safe silicone which i've read here that the GE Silicone 1 is safe to use in the aquarium which you can get at the local hardware store instead of paying 2 or 3 times the price for "aquarium silicone" at the LFS. Definitely do not use the GE silicone 2 since it has an anti bacterial agent in it to kill mildew and it will kill the beneficial bacteria in the tank.

If using either the epoxy or silicone of course you would have to prop the pieces of wood together or hold them until the adhesive sets and give it plenty of time to cure before using in the tank. 24 hours should be good for the epoxy but i would go at least 48 for the silicone just incase the very center of the glob doesnt cure due to no air exposure. I have used silicone on other things that i had to take apart the next day and noticed that the center wasnt fully cured.

Dont worry about going little by little, thats the best way to start an aquarium unless you are putting in live plants in which case i've read that you plant a lot all at once.
Ask as many questions as you can. Always better to be informed then to spend a lot of money then find out you didnt have too or shouldnt have. lol

[marchmaxima]

Originally Posted by @rtemis

warped one, I too bought some Malaysian drift wood and I like it. I too boiled the living crap out it. And, after the boiling, I let it soak in the pot for an additional 2 weeks as my tank cycled. After the daily soak I would change out the water. It took about two weeks to finally get clear acceptable water. It's now in my tank and after a week, the water turns a bit brown. It clears after I do my weekly 30% WC.

What @rt said..... That has also been my experience. I boiled mine on two seperate occasions and let it sit for 2-3 weeks and it still makes my water turn a little tea-ish in colour.

Not that bad though.. the weekly water change does the trick.

And about joining the peices of driftwood, I don't suppose you couold tien them together? If so, try clear fishing line. That's what i use to tie on my plants to my driftwood peices.