hey guys i was wondering if i could put some dead coral in my tank ( its like dead sea sponge my aunt brought me back for mexico i think and i have had it for about three years now) i havent put any fish in yet working on cycling and also my friend told me that if i have a decoration in my tank with a hole in it water will get inside and it will get stagnent is this true its a log thing i used to have in my lizard cage. thanks

it shouldnt be a problem, make sure u wash it alot tho before u put it in with un chlorinated water so bacteria can grow to it and make a pretty good help for the biofilter that looks good it should be fine

I would strongly advise against BOTH of those things... The coral will likely raise your PH, Oscars prefer a lower PH...

And I would NEVER use anything in an aquarium, that has been used with a lizard!
Lizards can carry a great deal of bacteria... And you don't need a sick fish!

Thomas112393 wrote:


Nicki's right. I would definitely avoid coral of any kind.

Similarly, what kind of wood is it? Often terrarium wood is not suitable for aquariums. There is mopani that is used which is fine, but more often than it will be a type of soft wood that will rot quickly or something like grape root, which can be used in aquariums but rots much, much quicker than other treated driftwood. Have you given fluorescent plastic 'action' bubblers any consideration?

also dont forget that the dead coral can incress the water hardness, and most of the dead coral i have seen is kind of shap and could hurt you oscar if it bumps into it. as far as the wood goes. never use anything from a reptile tank. the only reasion i say never is that, i did it once and it wiped out my tank. a strange fungus started growing on everything and the fish started dieing off left and right. even after i took the items out of the tank and did water changes the fungus was still growing on other items in the tank like the filter and decor and ended up killing everything i had in the system . i had to break it all the way down and i ended up haveing to replace almost all of the stuff in the tank like the gravle and the filter and heater. so please be careful about that kind of stuff..

thecreech77 wrote:


Yeah if a 'soft' wood is used it rots quickly, and then you get large patches of fungus feeding on it. Usually the bacteria in the tank will in turn feed on the fungus and eventually eliminate it with driftwood, but there will be too much when the wood decomposes quickly.

thecreech77 wrote:
[quote]also dont forget that the dead coral can incress the water hardness, and most of the dead coral i have seen is kind of shap and could hurt you oscar if it bumps into it./quote]
x2,better keep that coral out of your O's tank...

nnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.............

its plastic lol and i took both of the things out just to be safe. and also whats a fluorescent plastic 'action' bubbler lol