Cholla Wood Aquarium

September 23rd, 2019 

I received a package with gifts from my friend Brenda Morris from Florida. 

Let's see what we got here... 

Buy Cholla wood for aquarium on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/3IAO17c

It is Cholla wood! 

Thank you very much Brenda for this and everything you shared with me!

 I have a couple aquariums without driftwood where I can put the Cholla wood in. 

But first, I have to cure the Cholla wood. 

Boiling is one of the fastest ways of curing any driftwood. 

Boil Cholla wood on slow heat for as long as it takes for the tannin to leach out of the wood. 

Tannin makes water brownish - just like in a cup of tea. 

Boiling speeds up release of tannin and kills bacteria and such that comes with wood. 

Drain the dirty water as necessary. 

Refill the pot with clean water. 

And keep boiling the wood until the water stays clear without any discoloration. 

It took me about 3 hours to cure these two pieces of Cholla wood in boiling water.

 Let the Cholla wood cool down to room temperature. 

Cholla wood can serve as an anchor for holding aquatic plants.

 This piece of Cholla wood with Elodea attached to it goes in a couple weeks old nursery. 

And the other piece of Cholla wood goes into a Cherry shrimp nursery. 

My cherry shrimp get excited with this new addition! 

Cholla wood is a great addition for shrimp. 

And I have to admit - Cholla wood looks very nice in the aquarium.

 Cholla wood makes a perfect home for many tiny critters to hide from predators. 

I add daphnia and seed shrimp (Ostracoda) among other critters into all my aquariums. 

May 5th, 2020.

 I am preparing a 3 liter glass jar aquarium for a new project.

 Using small tanks allows for running multiple projects at the same time. 

First I put gravel and aged algae rich water. 

Now let's add land moss. 

Different types of land mosses grow underwater. 

The moss looks nice in the aquarium. 

Let's add a seashell. 

That is a very basic setup the way I usually do. 

Let's re-use one of the Cholla wood pieces to anchor land moss in this aquarium. 

This Cholla wood has been in the aquarium for about 8 months - it still looks good.

 Here it goes in the new aquarium.

A couple cuttings of Guppy grass goes in. 

And a couple bladder snails go in to complete the setup. 

Cover the tank with a planter holding land plants growing with roots in water. 

One week later on May 12th, 2020 the tank looks ready for fish.

 3 young Blue Star Enders fish from different tanks go into this new tank. 

I wonder what my aquariums would look like filled with brownish water... 

So, I set up the new aquarium as a backup to move more fish in an emergency. 

Let's put untreated uncured Cholla wood in these two well established aquariums for observation.

 Cover the tanks to reduce water evaporation.

 All set and ready on May 12th. 

Here you can see the aquariums 10 days later on May 22nd. 

Water in one of the tanks is so brown from the tannin that it's hard to see anything in the aquarium. 

The other tank is less brownish yet. 

And the water in the new tank with cured Cholla wood is crystal clear for comparison. 

This experiment shows very well the necessity of curing Cholla wood before placing it in aquariums. 

I don't change water in my aquariums and I don't use man-made filters.

 So, I have to reset both aquariums to get rid of the brown water. 

And the two pieces of Cholla wood used in the experiment need to be cured.

 Notice how much dirt is in this Cholla wood. 

Yes, the Cholla wood is not exactly wood.

 The Cholla wood is a hollow carcass of dried out cacti plant. 

Boiling speeds up release of tannin and removes the soft dried organic matter from the Cholla wood.

 And there is a slow way of curing Cholla wood by simply submerging it underwater for a long time.

 I put the Cholla wood in a toilet flush tank for a couple months - a perfect place with running water. 

In a couple months I pulled the Cholla wood out and used it in a new self-feeding aquarium.

 You can see the new setup in a previously published video.

 Do you know how long the Cholla wood could last in aquariums? 

Well, I have to remind you that I don't use water pumps or air pumps in my aquariums.

 And I don't change the water in my aquariums. 

So, there is no forced water flow in my tank. 

Here you can see the same Cholla wood in March 2023. 

It's been about 2 and half years since I put Cholla wood in my aquariums. 

A good half of this piece of Cholla wood has already disappeared. 

And you may notice the other piece is also getting thinner as it ages. 

It adds up the natural charm of the aquarium for my taste. 

The average piece of Cholla wood lasts over 2 years in my aquariums without water flow.

 Cholla wood makes great additions in aquariums for small fry fish and tiny critters alike.

Buy Cholla wood for aquarium on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/3IAO17c

 Have fun and happy aquariums :)