I will pay for the right piece!
Please contact me here or via PM. Thank you.
I Want Your Dead Bonsai!
I am going to be working on building a bonsai aquascape, and I figured I could ask around these forums for dead bonsai to help with my project.
I will pay for the right piece!
Please contact me here or via PM. Thank you.
I will pay for the right piece!
Please contact me here or via PM. Thank you.
-
thanrose
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 716
- Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:01 am
- Location: Jacksonville, FLZone 9A
Sounds like something I would do! Just keep in mind that not all woods are appropriate for all occasions. For instance, the reason some lakes and rivers run tea brown is due to tannins from the cedars and oaks that live there. There are poisons in some, some will float forever, and some will decay rather quickly and silt up your water.
Wood that has been waterlogged already may be your best bet. Finding a dredged retention pond that once had trees could give you lots of interesting shapes if you go mucking about the edges.
If you get a nice contorted but dead bonsai, you'll probably have to anchor it so it doesn't float until it hydrates enough to stay in place.
There is actually a good reason there are so many log and tree shapes made of plastic for aquaria.
Still, I had some driftwood mangrove with dead barnacles on it in one of my larger tanks for a while.
Wood that has been waterlogged already may be your best bet. Finding a dredged retention pond that once had trees could give you lots of interesting shapes if you go mucking about the edges.
If you get a nice contorted but dead bonsai, you'll probably have to anchor it so it doesn't float until it hydrates enough to stay in place.
There is actually a good reason there are so many log and tree shapes made of plastic for aquaria.
Still, I had some driftwood mangrove with dead barnacles on it in one of my larger tanks for a while.
Apparently if boiled, bonsai will manage to sink. It has been done before just not so sure exactly what kind of wood it was. Oak does look the best. I believe there are ways to waterproof wood with some sort of chemical just not sure what it is. I have plenty more research to do, however any help at all is great!
-
thanrose
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 716
- Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:01 am
- Location: Jacksonville, FLZone 9A
YEah boiling would speed up the hydration process. Their are resins out there that permeate several layers of hardwood for banisters and flooring. I'm no expert on it, but they are more durable than painting on layers of polyurethane.Cerise wrote:Apparently if boiled, bonsai will manage to sink. It has been done before just not so sure exactly what kind of wood it was. Oak does look the best. I believe there are ways to waterproof wood with some sort of chemical just not sure what it is. I have plenty more research to do, however any help at all is great!
Be aware of introducing anything live into that tank though.