Safe materials?

[htd100]

hey,

no, its good idea, im sure it will become a valuble resorce but I think ure better contacting zoo and wildlife park art departments. There are some amazing displays on the continent.
I dont think companys that make viv decor will be to happy in giving away there secrets onto the net openly. Id love to find out what those lightweight bowls are made of, but even still they might need some sort of kiln or somthing.

I always use blagdons pond seal for everthing that needs sealing and tend to stay away from the major hardware stores because the ronseal stuff still smells abit for at least 6 months. If you sorce a matt version of a simalar thing then i will be a happy bunny. although a light sprinkling of coloured sand help abit in the final coat.

Ive also noticed there are alot of diy stuff made out cement basesed products, the only danger ive read about is leaching of lime over time. but.Send a letter to the manufactures of habacrete but i wouldent expect a reply.

If you source the materal aquarium orniments are made and painted of then that would also be good.
good luck!

[abruptus]

This is just a casual bump for anyone that might have missed it late last year. The page is still in existence, and if anyone has anything to add to the list of materials that can be safely used in a viv/aquarium, please do let me know.

My reason for bumping is I actually had an enquiry via my website, so it made me realise that it is a valuable resource to non-forum users too!

[Farske]

Cheers, was looking for something like this.
Bookmarked.

Know anything about wood ?

[abruptus]

No, but if you find anything out I would appreciate it adding here or emailing to me so I can add it. I really wanted this to be a collective thing, where people share their knowledge and experience, rather than having to contact individual companies to find out more

I suppose I know a little about wood, reminds me I should add a wood section. The mopani bogwood and others you can get in aquarium and reptile shops can be considered safe.

However if being used in a wet environment, or in water, mopani wood requires a series of boilings to help leach out the tannins, which acidify the water and make it go tea coloured (unless you want a brown acidic water!).

Similarly, some types of wood may float, but can be made to sink with a lengthy soaking process.

And finally, I learnt the hard way that other pet supply wood may not be suitable. By this I mean things like wooden huts for rodents. I put one in a tank with a rainbow crab and within a week I had an invasion of springtails, they were thriving off of the soft wet rotting wood and warm temperatures. I possibly could have prevented this again by boiling it for an extended period of time to kill off any eggs.

Also, many beetle species find coniferous wood toxic (something in the sap).

That's the sum of my knowledge on wood in tanks. Was there some specific project you had in mind? Technically you could seal any wood with the previously mentioned sealers and it'll be fine!

[Morgan Freeman]

This is a great idea for a thread.

I've just started using this paint earthBorn: environmentally friendly paint, natural organic paint, eggshell & varnish products. VOC free. for the fake rock background I'm making for my Leo. Obviously you can use other paints and let the fumes clear out and use a sealant but for those wishing to be extra careful this could be a good idea. Of course please remember sealant should still go on top even with this.

[cbarnes1987]

i was thinking of making a fake rock backround for my cornsnake viv for when he gets bigger, im not a tightwad but want something original instead of the auld exo terra! iv got about 8 months on my hands because he is a hatchling atm. i was considering using pva glue mixd with water and paper i.e papier mache, and then paint a light brown colour and seal with either epoxy resin or g4 pond seal. yay or nay?

[UkReptiles]

Basically am wanting to make a Naturalictic vivarium with a 3 sided fake background with plants and so forth but the reptiles that are going init need 80% humidity so am unsure on what materials i can use to make the fake backgrounds and to make them look realistic ive used aquirium silicon to seal the wood so the humidity should warp it hopefully lol.