This is probably a new one for ya

[ckprax]

I am setting up an 80 gallon tank which will be FOWLR and I want something unique. I am most likely going to do an aggressive tank. With that said, I have been toying with the idea of putting in a skull and maybe a ribcage in the tank. I have never seen something like this and I think it would be awesome and scary. These would probably be from a deer, wild hog, snake or the like. I am just wondering if I was to first bleach the bones in the sun and then maybe, if necessary, use bleach on them and rinse thoroughly if it would be fine in my tank. The way I see it, it wouldn't be much different than a coral skeleton.

I just think it would be really neat and give a very aggressive look if an eel was to swim out of an eye socket or mouth of a skull.

Does anyone have any reasons why this wouldn't work or suggestions of what would look cool? I am really leaning towards a small buck with a busted up ribcage or maybe a wild hog with some long tusks!

[ckprax]

I forgot to add, I would still have some live rock but I would put the bones to one side of the tank or maybe inside of a cave and have some red led''s light the cave at night.

[Cheekmonkey]

I would give the bones a generous enamel coating.

[BurntOutReefer]

or buy some pre-made bones (plastic/acrylic)

[ckprax]

What would be the problem with using real bone? I am just wondering because if it is just bone and is bleached what could leech out? Or is there something im missing?

[nrstype]

Fresh bone? Wouldn't use it, even if it was bleached in the sun for a few weeks. There can still be matter between the bone plates, marrow, bacteria in the air spaces,etc.... I'm not sure if it would eventually leech something into your system to poison it or not, or raise the nutrient level too much from the furthering decay of any matter that could still reside in the bone. Though.. it is kind of a neato idea.

If you use the real bone, I hope it would be very dry & old, treated or sealed.. like Cheekmonkey stated.

IMHO..... Safely, I would see if you could use false bones/sculls. I wouldn't want to gamble with expensive livestock.

[techreef]

i agree that the best idea is to search for plastic/false bones. another angle on potential problems is if you buy/find real bones that have been cleaned of flesh w/ some corrosive chemical or lye, etc. That would leech out into your tank's water and kill things.

Cool idea though. Please post pics when you get this all built! A bunch of pipefish would be sweet swimming in and out of a bunch of bones, but you'd pretty much have to have a species tank just for them...

[capn_hylinur]

I agree with these guys and would like to see a pic----------
but i can't resist here-----------
lets be real here-----who is going to find the bones of a deer or hog at the bottom of the reef----you need to add human ones to keep the natural decor---LOL--:) LOL

[kydsexy]

i agree. dig up your great grandmother and use her! why would you disrespect the dead and do such a thing. remember, that was somebody's kid at one point. lion, deer, cat, dog, human.


but i think fake bones would be cool!

[ckprax]

well i might look into finding some fake bones but i would rather not pay for them since i have access to real bones that have been dried out for years.

I know that a deer skull would not naturally be found in a reef but i'm not all to concerned with that, i just think that it would look neat.

Thanks for all of the input

[Savas]

Be careful, as many bones float. You are going to have to anchor them down.

[Myrddraal]

I saw somebody do that a few years ago in a FW tank, possibly on MFK. They enamel coated it and it was fine, although the enamel made the skull really shiny, until it got coated with algae

[capn_hylinur]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11128156#post11128156 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ckprax
well i might look into finding some fake bones but i would rather not pay for them since i have access to real bones that have been dried out for years.

I know that a deer skull would not naturally be found in a reef but i'm not all to concerned with that, i just think that it would look neat.

Thanks for all of the input

it was a joke ckprax --LOL for any rcmp or feds---I do not possess or have every possessed any human bones nor condone digging up graves.---the only thing I am guilty of is watching too much CSI:lol:

[nrstype]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11128201#post11128201 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Savas
Be careful, as many bones float. You are going to have to anchor them down.

YUP.. those numerous amounts of tiny airspaces in bone....

[Uyro1]

I have heard enough complaining. DO IT TOTALY and for that matter you can go on line and purchase real human bones legaly and they are supper cleaned, baked and totaly safe from what I gather. They are super old and everything. Skulls are about $85 and I would totaly get a ribcage also and they are like $100. GO FOR IT, Scare the crap out of everyone who sees your tank. but they are right using animal bones that have not been prosesionaly cleaned would be to much of a gamble.

[jubjubrsx]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11125394#post11125394 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BurntOutReefer
or buy some pre-made bones (plastic/acrylic)

i second that i had a deer skull in my freshwater setup for a while.... after about a year it basically disintegrated

[nrstype]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11129877#post11129877 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Uyro1
I have heard enough complaining.

No one was complaining. ckprax asked some advise & opinions, and he's getting them.

As to the idea.. It is a cool idea, and everyone wants it to happen, but in the best way possible to benefit the owner, and the livestock.:rollface:

[kraash]

never had any problems

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r166/kraashphotos/DSC00087.jpg

[Uyro1]

AS I SAID ABOVE THIS IS THE WAY TO GO KRASSH IS NOT FOOLING AROUND!!!!!!!!!

[kydsexy]

why not just buy a grouper, let him grow to 28" inches and feed him mice? i'm sure there would be a few bones leftover.

[capn_hylinur]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11131762#post11131762 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Uyro1
AS I SAID ABOVE THIS IS THE WAY TO GO KRASSH IS NOT FOOLING AROUND!!!!!!!!!

ouch--my ears are still ringing------this is a friendly site where fellow reefers come to hear and share a variety of opionions and advise and experiences.
if you have "heard enough" and feel you have to yell please don't mind me suggesting that maybe you should chill out a bit in front of your tank with your favorite beverage or go for a run or something----life is too short to be this up tight--its a hobby(for most of us):smokin:

[capn_hylinur]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11131538#post11131538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kraash
never had any problems

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r166/kraashphotos/DSC00087.jpg

very original setup:smokin:

this would be awesome if you could rig up some flashing led lights in the eye socket

[nrstype]

OH yeah! LED in the sockets would look awesome ;-)

[kathainbowen]

*giggle*

I shouldn't laugh.... but my manager had the awesome idea one time to use a faux-skeleton as an almost "chia-coral." He rubber banded GSP to the head and put pom pom xenia (Xenia umbellata) in the rib cage. As soon as the corals got settled and starting spreading, it looked really neat.

There's actually another thread running in "Reef Discussion" about setting up tanks with shipwrecks or plane crashes in them (see "Ship wreck/aiplane wreck reef tank"). If you can get past all the Into the Blue jokes about Jessica Alba ("Alba-core," as they are teasing), there are a couple of neat set-ups, including an undeniably awesome shipwreck with a large, almost galleon-looking wreck. With the obvious interest in this thread regarding dramatic and/or theatrical designs for aquascaping, I think even just browsing some of the few tanks that surfaced (no pun intended) in that thread could really help get some ideas going for working with the theme of bones in a tank.

More to the point, I am going to agree with the previous suggestions for faux bones, if only because you can better control the cleaning and preparation of the material. You can also avoid some rather.... er.... delicate conversations regarding whether or not those are *real* bones. I'm not going to really get into the debate of whether real bones are a good thing or not. Personally, I wouldn't do it because I could not be certain that the chemicals used to deflesh aren't still on the bones (that.... and I think my uncle the fossil hound, would probably disown me for doing something like that to a perfectly good skull!).

As per alternatives, you can find some really cool faux pieces made out of resin of both bones or other neat stuff along the same, macabre theme. Big Al's even has replicas of old diving helmets in different scales that look really neat. I've been trying to find this website that had some uber awesome resin pieces in multiple parts to look like they were rising out of the sand (in three different models of a skeleton, a pirate, and Poseidon).




Onto the eel behavioral patterns.... I'd probably go with a snowflake eel for this particular set-up. Many eels will appreciate caves and crevasses like the eyesockets and other holes in a skull or ribcage. However, a snowflake eel, or other, smaller varieties of eels (including the errant pseudochromid, the green wolf eel), would be less likely to outgrow the home of a skull or other bones and therefore more likely to use as a longterm to permanent residence should your particular specimen like it. Keeping smaller eels like this will also grant you wider stocking options when it comes to companion fish.

However, a skull in an eel-free tank would be really cool with animals that are shier and hole-loving. Say, like blennies. Blennies would ADORE something like that, with tons of holes. A purple reef lobster might look uber-cool lurking around under an open jaw, too. Schools of smaller fish might also enjoy cruising in and out of ribcages (like chromis if you have a tank large enough to support a group of them without fighting). In a tank large enough, you could make a gaping cave over the skeleton or bones to give a foreboding look for other predators such as groupers.

Anywho...... good luck!

[kraash]

I never thought about the red leds, cool idea
I did how ever think of gluing a couple of stag horn frags to look like horns, but then disregarded the idea cause it would look like a deer some day:)

[Playa-1]