Bamboo

[millsn]

I've ben trying out bamboo. The fish love hi ding inside the one piece I've put in. The other pieces I've held in a bucket of water. After two days the water turns a really murky colour. When you pour it away it almost smells of lemons. Does anyone have experience of this? Is the water turning acidic? Is it a problem for the fish. It's a fairly small piece in my tank but when you put lots in the water it does seem to have a marked effect

[JonasBygdemo]

I guess it's the same acid that roots leak into the water. It's actually good for the fish for some reason, and if it's acid it'll lower the PH, so if you have loaches or other fish who wants acidic water it's probably going to be closer to what they want (unless you already have super-low PH). I've heard that bamboo will decay quickly in aquariums though.

[millsn]

It does come out with a slimy film on it, not massively so but it feels quite unlike how it feels when dry. No doubt that's decay of some sort.

[Sharkscott2]

If it's a brown / dead piece of bamboo I just boil it once then place in water until it sinks.

For green / live bamboo I typically boil once, place in water until the waxy film starts flaking off. Then I scrub the waxy stuff off and boil again. Then place in water until it sinks. If you get another waxy coat coming out then just remove and scrub. I've never boiled mine more then twice.

[millsn]

I'd been doing the same thing but not with boiling water, just hot tapwater. I'll give it a go.

[millsn]

ok I;ve placed the bamboo in boiling water that I put into a bucket. I don't get any waxy stuff. It pongs but no wax. Do I need to actually boil the water whilst the bamboo is in it? Like you would cook potatoes?

If so I've a problem as the bamboo is quite long and sticks out of a 5 gallon bucket (whic htook ages to fill with boiling water)!

[bookpage]

I'm not sure what you want to do with the bamboo, but to use them for caves for loaches they have to be cut into pieces. A cut on each side of the vascular bundle has to be made. They will make each section about 6-8 inches long with a bamboo stem that is about 1.5 inches in diameter.

In bamboo the internodal regions of the plant stem are hollow, but the vascular bundles, as seen in cross section, are scattered throughout the stem instead of in a cylindrical arrangement.

[millsn]

I've a piece of bamboo with a couple of sections hollowed out where the bamboo closes off the cylinder (vascular bundles?). It's just for housing clowns but mine seem to like it when the hollow is long and pipe-like. Mine are about a foot and a half long each

[bookpage]

No problem then, as long as the vascular bundle area is cut out. Be sure the opening is large enough for your clowns. You don't want one of them getting stuck.
My bamboo sections have been in water for 7-8 months and still feel hard to the touch. I check them every few weeks when I do water changes. When they start to feel soft, I will take them out and replace them.

[Sharkscott2]

I boil any wood that goes into my tanks for several reasons.

To leech out tannins

To partially to break down fibers which allows the wood to take on water more easily thus allowing the wood to sink faster.

Lastly to kill things which I may not want in my tank. I know boiling doesn't kill every bacteria, parasite, and fungus, but it's a good step.



I do boil mine like you do a potato. If the piece is too long maybe boil one end then flip it and boil the other. Of course it may even be too long for this.

I have a piece of wood that runs the whole length (4 feet) of my 55 gallon. And I actually boiled it in an oil drum over a wood fire in the back yard. I boiled one end then flipped it and boiled the other.

[millsn]

Here's a cautionary tale. I got home last night at 22:00 and every filter in the tank was clogged (there are three). The motors were seizing and the media was bunged up. Not doubt you are there ahead of me. I boiled my bamboo. I was unable to see any waxy stuff though. However, once I'd had the bamboo in the water for a day I had proof of its existence.

For anyone reading this, I would suggest (at the moment) boiling, followed by a soak of a few days in water to see if that is what triggers the waxy substance's appearance. My tank had lots of little flecks of it floating around and it seemed to work like brakes on the pump motors.

BTW I then spent the next 5 hours disassembling my pipework and cleaning it all out and generally getting very wet due to the siphon action (external filters under the tank). I'm feeling a bit tired now. Why is it that the tank always had an embolism when you least need it?

BTW, I've also put one piece of bamboo in the oven at 100 deg C for an hour which ought to do all the is needed. It's now soaking in a bucket.

[Sharkscott2]

Wow,

I've always had wax when using live bamboo but never so bad to clog up filters. It usually takes 1 - 3 days for it to appear in my experience. And you may get a second round of it.

Mine has always presented as a translucent film that rises off/out of the bamboo.

[millsn]

Now the seals on the eheim have gone again and I can't get any. Luckily it's only a small leak!

[millsn]

ok, latest update. I'd cured the bamboo I had, removed all of it barr one large piece the my large clown took up residence in.

However, where the bamboo sat, the sand went all black and the bamboo must have begun to rot. I've pulled the plug on the whole plan now; too many water quality issues associated with it for me.