Cork bark question, also substrate question

[kook04]

Hi, everyone! I spent this past weekend doing some further set up of my vivarium. I bought some supplies from a local store, including hydroton and cork bark "flats".

The cork bark is not very flat. I'm wondering if I can flatten these pieces on my own, and if so, how do I do it? I googled it, and didn't find anything definitive. I did see a couple references to boiling cork bark for 45 minutes or so as part of the flattening process. Unless I hear differently, I'm going to give that a try, and then set a heavy book or something on top of it.

My other question is about the substrate. I've set up a false bottom with 1.5" of hydroton on top of it. I'm going to put some fiberglass windowscreen on top of the hydroton, and I've got ground cocofiber and sphagnum moss to go on top. Should the sphagnum go on top of the cocofiber, or vice versa?

I finally got my pump and heater, so very soon I'll have the waterfall running, and will post some pics of the set up.

Thanks,

Kook

[Julio]

not sure what to do abotu the cork bark, but as far as your substrate goes, if the sphagnum is not live then i woudl b=not worry about it and just mix them in together.

[DartMan]

First WELCOME to DendroBoard.com!

Sorry, can't help you either on the Cork Bark. If you figure it out be sure to post on it how you did it.

You can do either on the cocofiber and sphagnum moss. I've seen some folks keep it separated and others mix it. I'd be inclined to mix it, but that's only my opinion.


Good Luck!

[kleinhanz]

WRT the corkbark, you can cut it into strips and adhere it to the back in the same order as you cut them. This will work just fine but requires a little more work to fill in the cracks. I spray GreatStuff on the background, let it sit for about 5min (to expand) and then I lay my pre-arranged pieces down. Put a little pressure on the cork so it does not expand out too far. When everything is dry, chip back the GreatStuff that came out the cracks and then do whatever flocking method you want to blend it in. You can also tie in roots, branches, ect to break up the background a little and make it more natural. Similar to what I've done here (although I started with flatter corkbark then you)


Test everything before working on your tank to make sure you are happy with the results.

[kyle1745]

You have a couple options with the cork, you can cut it then place it on the background in strips or sections. This will remove any bowing or etc. You can then fill gaps with silicone and coco bedding or other material.

[slaytonp]

Or you can just fill in the curvatures of the cork bark with Great Stuff, let it cure, then carve it off flat and adhere it to the background with silicone. It will still bulge out into the tank, but that makes it more interesting.

I've tried setting it curved side down on a hard surface--the cement floor in the shop, and jumping up and down on it to smash it into fittable pieces lengthwise, but I'm rather scrawny, so it just bounced me back up again. Cork bark is resilient to minor assaults. But I think with a manly man type guy with some weight, it might work. When you attached it, it would look a lot less artificial than sawing it into straight pieces, although you'd still have to fill in the gaps, or maybe not. Stuff will grow over the gaps in time.