animal skulls in tanks

[Phoenixphire55]

Can you have animal skulls in your tanks as decorations? If so how would you prepare the skull? I would buy one off of ebay, so it'd already be dried and treated etc, but what could I do to it after I get it to make it aquarium-safe?

I'm kind of assuming its best not to use real skulls, but just curious. I was watching a pirahna attack in the Amazon scene in a movie and a horse was eaten by the fish in it, so its bones fell to the bottom of the river and it looked really cool, lol.

 

[jsoong]

Skulls/bones are mostly CaCO3, so using that would be the same as adding crushed coral - ie raising your KH, GH & pH.

If you don't mind altering your water chemistry, I suppose you can use real bones. I would avoid anything with lacquer or other coating, as that may not be aquarium safe. You would want to wash the item well (as chemicals may well be used in cleaning), and maybe soak in water for a few weeks to leach out any nasties. Boiling it to sterilize before using is a good idea.

There may be aquarium sealent you can use to protect the bones - so it lasts longer & won't mess up your water as much - but I don't know what.

 

[kribbman]

Skulls might alter your water chemistry in other ways too. Bone isnt entirely solid and can and most likely will contain marrow. Im not sure if with the preparation they undergo and sterilization this problem is entirely removed. My concerns are that water may eventualy find its way into the marrow and cause problems with amonia and bacteria, and anythin else realted to the decomposition of organic material in water.

 

[zenkatydid]

you could always seal it like some people seal wood.