DIY Driftwood for your aquarium

DIY driftwood takes time, but it will save you tons of money. Some small pieces cost well over $20. Also, the soak method (minus salt) will work for store bought driftwood. Store bought driftwood is cleaned and has not been soaked. This may lead to tannins being leaked into your tank

What youll need:

Driftwood, which can be found anywhere. It doesn't necessarily have to come from the water. You could find it in the woods, as long as it is weathered down and looks unique. Also make sure the wood is not rotting.

BIG soaking container, I use a 15 gal rubber maid container.

Aquarium Salt, I use Doc Wellfish brand. This is used as a natural way of killing bacteria and parasites.

First step, clean off your wood! Make sure all debris and bark are removed from the wood (or itll fall off in your tank!). Once complete, boil the water in the BIG pot and add aquarium salt. I use about a tablespoon per gallon. Boil the entire piece for about 2-4 hours depending on your size. If you can only fit half the wood in the pot then you will need to boil the other half.

Once the boil is complete you can transfer your wood into the rubber maid container. Add water until the whole piece of wood is under water (you can also add salt if you want). If the wood does not sink place something on top of it until it does. Itll sink after a week or two. Youll notice the water turn into tea-ish color. It is the result of the tannins that are released into the water. If you didnt soak the wood, the water in your tank would be this color. Tannins are natural and some fishes actually like it because itll make them feel more at home. Itll also affect your PH, Im not sure about GH or KH. Youll need to do water changes every other day to clean the water. This may take weeks or months.

When the color of the soak water suffices, you will need to soak your wood for another week without any salt. This will make sure that the wood does not hold any salt that may leak into your tank.

Once soaking is complete wash the wood well and transfers the wood into your tank. Do not keep the wood out of water for a long time or it will float.

For more information and pictures about this project, please visit www.CarolinaFishTalk.com and check the DIY section.

Article written by krayzievanh@yahoo.com, member of CFT Community

Proof read by Brandan Njagu b.njagu@gmail.com

Puppies try to jump at anything and everything during their first year of life. It is worth knowing that this behavior will remain the same when the puppy grows into am adult dog. If you want your dog to keep on jumping on guests, then it is fine to let the puppy jump at you on every occasion. Better way is to reward the puppy and punish for desired behavior. When the puppy is jumping at you, neglect this behavior. Make the puppy sit on the floor and offer a reward. Over a period of time puppy will realize the benefit of sitting in front of you and therefore will forget the tendency of jumping at people. This will be to your great advantage when the puppy grows and becomes a sort of serious dog.

Punishment to the puppy should not be treated as punishment, but correction in behavior. It is important to correct puppy's behavior at the time of any offence committed by the puppy. Never correct him after a time gap. Fir example, if you don't want your puppy to start barking the moment doorbell rings, correct him immediately. If you try to correct him after the guests are gone, he may get confused. Once this unwanted behavior is corrected, never forget to reward the puppy for the correct behavior. This reward may not necessarily in the form of food only. You may show your happiness over the behavior and your dog is intelligent enough to know your good mood.

Get a good number of toys for your puppy to chew. Never allow him to bite or chew your hand. If the puppy bites your hand, make a huge noise to make puppy understand his mistake. Don't try to punish the puppy for this behavior. Walk away from the place and don't let him near you for some time. Puppy will understand this clearly and never try to repeat that mistake. Handful of chewable toys will do this trick easily.

Try not to leave the puppies unattended in a room. Puppies because of their natural tendency of chewing, will mess up with valuable articles in the room. If you scold him for this, he may not understand the reasons of your behavior. Leave it there itself, and then never ever leave him unattended.

Puppies may feel sick when taken on a long drive. Start training your puppy in the car for shorter distances first and then keep on increasing the trip time and miles. Puppy will get adjusted to long hours in the car.

It's every pet owners nightmare- your dog is lost. Your dog is outside facing the elements and the dangers all alone. You don't know where they are and you have no idea how to go about finding them.

Most dogs just love to explore and some breeds are more prone to straying further than others. Hunting dogs like beagles are even more adventurous than other kinds of dogs and will quickly stray out of sight.

It's not just hunting dogs that can go missing. Dogs and cats escape all the time. Whether its the dog that escapes underneath your feet as you open the door or the cat who has escaped over the weekend. Pets also face all kinds of dangers while traveling with their owners.

If youre pet does get lost finding them soon will reduce the threat of serious harm coming to them. A pet that is lost after nightfall has significantly less chance of being found safe and returned alive. The cold temperatures and dangers of traffic are increased and your pet becomes more vulnerable to attack by wild animals too.

If this all sounds like a nightmare to you there is a method of keeping track of your pet which might alleviate your worries. Using satellite technology you can keep tabs on where your pet is. GPS technology is not new for cars and boats but for pets it's pretty new. Global Positioning Systems can now be used to keep track of your dog or cat.

The system uses governmental surveillance techniques with satellites; enabling a Mobile System for Communications (GSM). This means you can use your phone or laptop to keep track of anything from your car to your dog. You will need a service provider to relay the information to you which you will need to pay for.

A tracking device can be attached to your dogs collar; so it doesn't hurt or hinder them in any way. Except for curbing that adventurous spirit a bit! The system is very personalized - you can set perimeters and zones and you can change them as you travel or even move house to house. These "safe zones" can be set so you are alerted whenever your pet leaves an area determined by you.

If you choose GPS; remember it is only effective as part of a wider strategy. There's no substitute for proper training but there are some tools you can use to make your pet safer.