Bark on wood

[Nelson]

Does bark have to be removed ?.
There seems to be different opinions on it.
From what I can see it's because the bark will decompose quicker and 'maybe' have some nasties in it.
I see Adams left the bark on here,

 

[Tim Harrison]

I wouldn't leave it on...at least for anything you intend to keep longterm-ish...http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/hornbeam-a-suitable-decor-material.29015/#post-302415

 

[zozo]

I have some small pieces of Mopani in my tank still having a little bark attached to them.. It's in there simce last year november and still is nothing much happened to it and still is fermly attached.. A few small peices of bark will not harm i think it's about the same as throwing leaves or aldercones in the tank and let that decompose. I do with the leaves. just let them be. Found the little bark kinda looking rather natural and neat... But i think Tim is right, if it is allot it probably will come loose in the end and have some effect on the bioload during that process.. Mopani is savana wood same as Opuwa, found on the dry african planes, but i've never seen bog wood or any other natural wood in wet condition having bark (for long). It's the first thing to come off

 

[zozo]

Actualy now you mention it, i might share it with you.. Something i got on my mind already for long time.. And if it can be done i realy have no idea but it will be a very long time experiment to see if and how it will do.. But since i'm very intrested in the Keiryu scaping style i realy would like to procede this hobby in this direction and go on with very shallow open top tanks. Now this Keiryu style is often combined with Bonsai looking woodstem plants (bushes) trimed very neatly trimmed.

Now sitting in the park and forrest and just looking and sucking up what i see.. I see regularly Willow (salix) trees at the waterfront alomst growing into the water.. Now i visited some Bonsai forums to find out things, and the willow seems to be the perfect beginner bonsai but still the joy was trashed, since it needs a winter and can't be kept long term inside. Anyway, so we are limited with the indoor suitable bonsai tree species which can handle wet conditions around their roots..

The idea thus is to grow a bonsai make it have a intresting root structure and place it above an open top scaped with an emersed section and use it's roots as part of the submersed scape, then you would have live wood probably with bark in your scape... It is just a brainfart i have on my mind for some time.. Not yet seen anything of this liking and think nobody ever tried it or maybe did and all failed. Can't find any information if this even is possible. I've seen bonsai and aquascaping combined, but in these cases the trees roots were completely sealed off from the water section.

If possible, this is a very long term project in the first place to bonsai the tree so it can be used in this way. I'm not even sure if i have enough years left in my live to pull it off.
And i'm not yet sure what tree or chrub would be the best choice..

Just a brainfart.. What if?? You would use living wood (roots) as scaping material??

 

[rebel]

Subscribed.

Thanks for making me aware of Keiryu style!!

 

[zozo]

Subscribed.

Thanks for making me aware of Keiryu style!!

I believe it was George who made one with a video tut or just pictures (can't find it back) somewhere in here. But not realy sure if i remeber correctly if it is Keiryu. And look at the latest work of Roy aka Greenfinger2 this also is in that direction. My curent high tech also a bit, but just a regular size tank so had to make a hanging garden.. But the emersed part, makes it just best of both worlds. In shallow tanks this is much easier to create with the hardscape.

Got it.

But he calls it Insularium, but it is a bit in Keiryu.. Hard to say sometimes what is what.. Is it a WK without a WK ball??