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aregias
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Joined: Jun 26, 2012
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Location: Chennai
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 Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:39 am Post subject: substitute for driftwood? |
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just had an amazing idea for substituting driftwood as a substrate for a few plants...
make the shape with mseal, even hollow is fine because of density, wrap around with shredded good quality sponge or plastic fiber clumps to give plant roots a grip :D
should work with the java moss that i have 
java moss is all that i have 
will need to use lightweight filler inside because mseal is kinda expensive. anybody tried this before? |
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josyjames
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:04 am Post subject: Re: substitute for driftwood? |
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| Can you please post the pics? |
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Nidhi
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:28 am Post subject: Re: substitute for driftwood? |
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Hi,
No doubt DIYing things will be very exciting, but keep in mind two basic objectives.
1, It must be cost effective compared to the real thing.
2, It must serve the purpose effectively with out causing harm to aquarium inhabitants..
Now your DIY, I feel has both the two flaws. one is its going to be costly, two I feel M-Seal is not good for aquarium purpose.
Instead you can use the plain old cement, which can be worked out in similar fashion. and after curing it considerably will not affect the aquarium parameters. |
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aregias
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:57 am Post subject: Re: substitute for driftwood? |
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| bought mseal and sponge, wondering what shape to make, imitating driftwood will be boring |
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aregias
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:03 am Post subject: Re: substitute for driftwood? |
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mseal is as hard as rock even when it is thin, works out way cheaper than driftwood... also completely inert after curing when mixed properly. i used it as a seal for diy fluidized sand bed and mechanical filter that i made...
what cement would you say is safe to use?
i see people talking about 2-3 month curing times for cement before it stops leaching chemicals into the water on reefcentral... even that DIY 3d aquarium background with thin layers of cement keeps leaching chemicals for a month or so from what people with chemical test kits are saying... |
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uv_umesh
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:16 am Post subject: Re: substitute for driftwood? |
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| Nidhi wrote (View Post):
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1, It must be cost effective compared to the real thing.
2, It must serve the purpose effectively with out causing harm to aquarium inhabitants..
Now your DIY, I feel has both the two flaws. one is its going to be costly, two I feel M-Seal is not good for aquarium purpose
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+100 for Nidhi |
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aregias
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:31 pm Post subject: Re: substitute for driftwood? |
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i would love to use cement, just that it takes weeks before it becomes useable... and the weight even when it is hollow...
sponge isn't going to work out, degrades too fast...
waiting for lfs to get the plastic scrubber kind of filter media, will have to make a BIG piece.
doing mseal in small parts, hardens pretty quickly.
also going to make small tree like structures, half foot tall, cover the branches with moss. seen it in an aquarium somewhere... |
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Nidhi
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:51 pm Post subject: Re: substitute for driftwood? |
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I like your spirit... aregias(?)
well, then I suppose we will be seeing some thing new..
If you need those scrubbers, which looks like scotchbrite. Go to a industrial hardware stores, any industrial area will have these stores. |
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aregias
IAH New Member
Joined: Jun 26, 2012
Posts: 70
Location: Chennai
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:03 am Post subject: Re: substitute for driftwood? |
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thank you :)
my name is faraz
will get the media today
**edit**
plan put on hold because i cut my hand while slicing foam 
no gloves either for mseal mixing |
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aregias
IAH New Member
Joined: Jun 26, 2012
Posts: 70
Location: Chennai
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| Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 6:14 pm Post subject: Re: substitute for driftwood? |
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it works, it works great
i did not know how brittle mseal is, my tree shattered. many many pieces |
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