Antlers and aquariums

[geoff]

Hey, i found a small rack of deer antlers and i looked at them and thought the would make a cool structure in an aquarium. my question is do you think the antlers would bring in any sort of disease or effect the chemistry of the water. if they wouldn't what do you suggest for cleaning?

Thanks :smokey:

[stribbelldk]

I am not sure if there would be any chemical reaction. They are bones, so maybe calcium buildup or possibly ammonia and nitrate spikes if there was any rotten stuff on them???

I would boil the heck out of them, then put them in a 5 gallon bucket with a established filter for a few weeks and see what happens with the water quality.

Anyone else cause that is a cool decor. :w00t:

Derek

[Slough Shark]

I would agree with what Derek said, I might pressure wash it before boiling though, just to get any gunk off the antlers.

[arixonbarnes]

I cut up pieces from an antler I found and dumped them in my tanks. They don't dissolve very quickly - been in the tanks for over two years and don't seem to have caused any harm. Once I get my 94 gallon up and running I intend to dump a very large moose antler (a drop I found) into it.

[byte]

Antler is very hard material. My dogs can destroy any bone they find, but when given an antler to deer chew on, they can hardly put a scratch in it. I have lots of antlers that I find in the field from when they shed their horns

[Drydock]

I tripped over a deer antler while fishing in the Red Deer river down by Sundre. My uncle is more of an outdoor guy than I am and he figured it had been there a while, but it still looked pretty good. I've never thought of it as an ornament, but would be kind of cool.

[BooUrns!]

Antlers are not actually bones, they're made up of a protein called keratin. Your fingernails are also keratin.

Like your fingernails, they will eventually soften and begin to breakdown. I can't see them releasing any major volumes of ammonia while they decompose but I would use ones that were well aged as oppossed to the recently dropped antlers. I'm thinking some of my plecos might enjoy some more places to hide. Sounds like a good idea.

[rED O]

before you try it i should caution you.I tryed antlers in my african tank a while ago and i tested the water and my pH spiked over 8 and my amonina went up. Iam not sure if the amonina was related to the antlers but i knew the pH spike was from them.

[Vallisneria]

before you try it i should caution you.I tryed antlers in my african tank a while ago and i tested the water and my pH spiked over 8 and my amonina went up. Iam not sure if the amonina was related to the antlers but i knew the pH spike was from them.

How would antlers raise the ph?

[rED O]

before you try it i should caution you.I tryed antlers in my african tank a while ago and i tested the water and my pH spiked over 8 and my amonina went up. Iam not sure if the amonina was related to the antlers but i knew the pH spike was from them.

How would antlers raise the ph?

i could not say for sure but after a week my pH went from 7 to over 8 and adding the antlers was the only thing i did.The whole time having that tank running my pH was always 7 and a week after adding them my pH went up and that was the only thing i did.

[geoff]

well thanks for all the help guys i`ll try it out and see what happens

[Slough Shark]

Keep us posted on how old the antlers are and how it works out! I might try this in my larger tank.

[Splash Spooky]

Keep us posted on how old the antlers are and how it works out! I might try this in my larger tank.

Yes please keep us posted. I have some old antlers in my garage that I would like to try. You would think that if you boil them to kill any bacteria that might be present and checked your parameters regularly that it would be ok.