So being I'm a cheapskate I'm making my own driftwood ornaments for my tanks. Pretty simple, piece of flat driftwood with holes drilled into it, drill a hole in the base secure it with a wooden dowel and glue it into the base which I'm thinking will be slate.

Basically I want to copy one I saw in Big Al's, except for one part. The wood is secured to the base by a metal screw. Meanwhile the label goes on to safe its safe aquarium driftwood safe to use in aquariums blah blah blah. Hmmm but I thought metal in fish tanks was a big no no...If not it sure would be easier then cutting and gluing dowels and such but I don't want to harm my fish either.

Thoughts?

I'm in no rush as the piece of driftwood is going to be soaking for sometime I'm thinking...

Friendly bump...


Anyone???

Wow Kat, sorry no one replied. I did not answer when I read your post earlier because I wasn't totally certain. I would be afraid of rust to be truthful. I know rust can leech into the water and it is not good for fish!
Can really make them sick, but perhaps someone else will chime in with more info!

No problem vmlola I figured sooner or later someone would see it...Since my driftwood is a project for a tank I don't even own yet it's not as if I'm sitting on pins and needles dying to stick it in there... Plus I don't think this thing is ever going to become water logged. It's been soaking about 24 hours and still bobbing the minute I remove the stones over it.

I was tempted to just put sealent over the screw but the paranoid nervous nelly in me would never let me not worry about it. I'm going to try a thin wooden dowel in place of using a screw...

Everyone stand by for the injury report I'm going downstairs to drill he he he

Hmmmm! Be careful! Remember me a month or so ago setting up the 20 gal long and so excited while cutting the intake tube for my Emperior 280 and just about cut my finger in two! Took weeks before it started to appear normal. My son swore I was trying out for a part in one of the "Saw" movies!

i dont think you are supposed to put any metal in a tank unless you are 100% sure of exactly what metal it is and that it is safe. Guess that's just common sense though.

(ps It's much easier to make ornaments using aquarium sealant to glue things as at least you can be sure it's safe for aquariums! i dont know if that would work for what you want to make but it's worth considering perhaps)

Thanks to you both for your replies...What I mainly want is for my fish to be safe and happy...My fish really seem to love hidey holes and things to swim through. I liked the one's I saw at Big Al's and decided to make my own. I've collected a few nice pieces of driftwood over the years as a diver/beach-aholic and thought it'd be nice to use them.

I thinking of just getting a thin wooden/plastic dowel from home depot and using it rather then the screw...When my camera has batteries I'll take a pic..

I am back from drilling injury free, but the day is still young!

Make sure you use stainless steel hardware if you will be using screws...especially if you use aquarium salt.

No metal I've decided...I just don't trust it and I'd never forgive myself if I managed to hurt my fish because of my own ignorance. I went to home depot and got a small plastic peg, the one's you stick into medicine cabinets to hold the shelves in place and I just have to see if I can fit it into the holes now.

I have read that you should be cautious of driftwood that you just pick up somewhere on the beach. I have read that it should be boiled before placing it in a tank. The driftwood you buy from a store should be safe but when I put a small piece of it in my tank (yes it had a screw in it) something started growing on it. fearing for my Dickey's safety; I took it out of the tank. The stuff was white and almost looked like a spider web. I later found similar white stuff growing on the suction cups that hold my heater in place. I took the heater out and disinfected the suction cups with alcohol. I have had no problems since.
I have no idea what the stuff was. I just know it wasn't there before the wood went in. I was able to verify that with photos i had taken of the tank.

someone posted about baking gravel as a means of sterilizing it. I probably wouldn't do that but, I wonder if wood could be baked?

Yep you can boil driftwood and dry it in sunlight over a process of several days I believe. Its already been desalted along with many other things I have collected/escavated from various dives and wreck dives. I'm treating it accordingly and since it will be a few months before I have the tank I'm thinking it should be fine by then.
Thanks for looking out for my little guys though!

no problem, I hope you will look out for mine in the same way and give me the benfit of your experience if you think there is something I should be warned about. I like to be cautious!