# Is this bad?



## Donald Hansen (Jan 21, 2011)

My wife does not like the piece of slate I used to provide my Plecostomus with a home, she thinks it's going to fall on him, so I bought an artificial hollow log made in China. I don’t want the Plecostomus digging in the gravel like he does below the slate so I’m going to add a piece of Plexiglas to the base. I prefer not to say why but I had a need to sand the base to make sure it was clean. While doing that I could tell by the smell that the tunnel was made of Bondo. 

Is that bad for the aquarium? If it is I’m going to have a few words with the people at the lfs.

DLH


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

why not just use a READ wood home for him? he'd love it


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## RevRon (Feb 26, 2011)

Bondo is a plastic resin. There are a bunch of plastic resins that smell like "Bondo" when you sand them. That being said, your decoration is not likely made of Bondo. It is probably made of a different resin that may or may not be safe for your fish. I would be cautious though, with childrens toys coming out of China decorated with lead paint, I wouldn't trust any product coming from China to be safe. Try a product made in a more responsible country, or better yet, a natural product.


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## Donald Hansen (Jan 21, 2011)

I used the name Bondo because I was not sure what to call it. I'm going to ask the people at the lfs if they knew what it was made of.

I would love to build a real log tunnel. How would I do that? I mean what type of wood would I use for that? Would I have to buy a piece of driftwood from the lfs or just grab any old log?


DLH


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I believe most aquarium decorations are made of some form of resin - the unnatural stuff anyway. I doubt it will harm the fish as long as you rinsed it off good.


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## joshxdr (Feb 16, 2011)

All plastics use some kind of resin as a starting material. The resin molecules are like chains, which is why it is usually a viscous liquid. Then using temperature, cross-linking agents, or both, you cross link the chains together to make it stiff. If you run the sander on plastic, you will heat it up and release lots of volatile chemicals which will stink. Some plastics have plasticizers which make it more ductile, and these will slowly come out (like "new car smell"). If the plastic is hard, it probably does not have plasticizers in it, so it probably won't release anything into the water. If it does, likely the AC in your filter will remove it before it builds up.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Driftwood is easlily found at a local fish store,or if you prefer,you can shop online at some aquarium forum sites.Theplantedtank.net has a few people who sell malasian driftwood,or mopani driftwood.Or if its legal,you can collect locally from a lake,river,stream or pond.Just make sure you will not get a fine,as many places are protected by fish and wildlife reserves.If you do collect,be sure to get hard wood as opposed to soft as it will last much longer.You wand dead wood,not green.


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## Donald Hansen (Jan 21, 2011)

joshxdr
What do you mean by "hard"?

Just got back from the lfs. They said it would do no harm. They also said that they wouldn't use anything bad to make the log. Remember it was made in China. To which I replied "I'm sure they would never do anything bad like putting lead paint on children's toys". Then one of the people showed me a log that been in one of their demo tanks for months and had done no harm. Also that they had been selling those pieces for a long time and nobody has ever complained. I may regret this but I'm going to use the log, I'll just make sure any resin I exposed is sealed with silicone.


DLH


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## Donald Hansen (Jan 21, 2011)

majerah1

That gives me an idea. I go fishing in Canada every summer. I'll do a little shore walking to see what I can find.

Is there anything I need to do to the driftwood to make sure it does not add any nasties to the aquarium. I was thinking of putting it in boiling water for a few minutes. 

DLH


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Yes you should boil it for thirty minutes.If its too big to boil,I have heard you can bake it in the oven for a bit.


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