Wooden piling section as substrate

[diverdown69]

Has anyone else used a piece of wooden piling as a part of a tank or even part of the substrate? I saw a few pieces today that were covered with barnacles and periwinkles that would be pretty cool in a tank that was made up for a bay-type tank.

 

[fishfreek]

Interesting. I would think you would need to cure the wood like those who have FW tanks do when they add drift wood. That way you can make sure the wood tannins dont seep into your water, etc.

 

[diverdown69]

True. I wish I knew how long this wood had been submerged. From the looks of it, it has been underwater a long time. The barnacles were quite prolific. Periwinkles can be found just about anywhere and introduced to the tank. The problem with a lot of periwinkles (i.e. Littorina ziczac) is that some species are adapted to life in an intertidal zone where they are subject to alternating flooding and ebbing of tides. I don't know if I could reliably duplicate that in a tank without a lot of $$$ spent on a timed drain and fill.
Any ideas there?