Drift wood

[Christy06]

Hello guys, some of you may know that my tank got delivered today broken and cracked. Went shopping and ended up buying a 2.5ft long storage thing from sainsburys ,only temp of course plus the turt will be tiny so big enough for now.

Anyway, i went to the beach and got lots of stones, only found 1 shell though and two pieces of driftwood.

I have scrubbed them and am now steeping them in boiling water. No Chemicals were used. My problem is, my father said the wood would have soaked up salt from the sea water and may not be a good idea to put it in the tank, plus while scrubbing the wood, the water turned a sickly yellow/brown colour. Think i may just leave the wood but what do you think?

Im going to scrub them 2moro again and again steep them in boiling water just to make sure all nasty things are dead.

[Stephen P]

Have you opened a dispute over the cracked/broken tank off Ebay?

[annsimpson1]

we stopped using bogwood in the tanks as it seeps tannin, the brown stuff, I think if you soak it for long enough eventually it will stop but we never managed to do it. I don't think its harmfull after all many streams are brownish from it in the wild it just doesn't look very nice, but even the shop brought bits leak it, there might be some tips on how to get rid of it on the web somewhere.

[Turtle Jo]

Bogwood and driftwood needs to be soaked for a long time before adding it to the tank. The tanin it leaks is not harmful to the turtle, indeed, some South American species prefer this 'blackwater' environment.

Using carbon in the filter will help remove some of the discoloration (change the carbon regularly), as will frequent water changes.

Personally, I would not use driftwood collected from beaches - but that's just me.

[Christy06]

Originally Posted by Stephen P

Have you opened a dispute over the cracked/broken tank off Ebay?

I contacted the seller. He said sorry and will give me my money back, my only problem the postage was pratically the same price as the tank, and i doubt i will get tht back.

[Christy06]

Thanks guys. Im not going to use it. Dont want water looking dirty. Does anyone know where to get a good (cheap) water testing kit other than ebay?

[Stephen P]

You should get the whole lot refunded. If you go through Paypal you presumably have evidence to show the tank is broken (they normally tell you to return the item - at your expense - but this is not feasible really in this instance). The seller can then claim through the carrier (Royal Mail?). However, he may well find that he cannot claim as "glass" products are often excluded.

I must admit I would never contemplate posting a fish tank. All the ones I have bought have been delivered by the seller or collected by me!

[Christy06]

i did pay via paypal. if the guys wants it back he can pay the postage. it was an acrylic tank it was by a courier, not post office. i thought a courier would have taken better care for it.

[Graham]

Salt dissolving out of the driftwood would not be a problem, many people add a small quantity of salt to their tank water anyway.

[Graham]

How badly damaged is the tank? If it's acrylic then it may be repairable, acrylic is easy to glue, and if done properly the repair should be as strong as it was before it broke.