Bogwood is wood preserved in a bog due to anaerobic conditions. Usually bogwood is stained brown by organic matter (tannins) present in the bog. Lütt-Witt Moor, a bog in Henstedt-Ulzburg in northern Germany A wider view of another portion of Lütt-Witt Moor A bog is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material. ... Look up Anaerobic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Tannins are astringent, bitter-tasting plant polyphenols that bind and precipitate proteins. ...
Uses of bogwood
Bogwood can remain in bogs for hundreds of years and so is of use in dendrochronology.
Some bogwoods have an interesting shape (similar to driftwood) and as such find use as ornaments. Additionally bogwood has been utilised for carving, taking advantage of its natural shape. As bogwood dries out, it can crack or split, but this does not necessarily detract from the aesthetic qualities of a bogwood sculpture.
Bogwood oftens finds use in aquaria as an ornament that provides hiding places for fish and a growing surface for plants such as Java fern. Additionally, the leeching of organic compounds such as tannins into the water causes a brown colouration and increased acidity as well as softening of hard waters, an action similar to that of peat. This is highly desireable in some freshwater aquaria.
Pinus taeda Cross section showing annual rings, Cheraw, South Carolina Pine stump showing growth rings Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the method of scientific dating based on the analysis of tree ring patterns. ... A piece of waterlogged driftwood Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach by the action of the waves. ... Carved wooden cranes Wood carving is the process whereby wood is ornamented with any design, by means of sharp cutting tools held in the hand. ... Aesthetics (or esthetics) (from the Greek word αισθητική) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty. ... For other uses, see Aquarium (disambiguation). ... The Microsorum is a genus of over fifty species of tropical ferns. ... Hard water is water that has a high mineral content (water with a low mineral content is known as soft water). ... Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. ... For the village on the Isle of Wight, see Freshwater, Isle of Wight. ...
A piece of waterlogged driftwood Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach by the action of the waves. ... Binomial name Colophospermum mopane (Kirk ex Benth. ... The substrate of an aquarium refers to the material used on the tank bottom. ...
External links
Image of 5000 year old bogwood recovered from an Irish bog as well as bog images
Irish Peatland Conservation Council - Information sheet on bogwood and its formation in Irish peat bogs.
We were tempted to leave the bogwood naked in the tank (quite interesting as an approach) but we didn't feel very comfortable with the idea of throwing away all those plants.
The bogwood was previously soaked in boiling water for 24 hours and the water was changed every three hours to remove as much of the brown color as possible before adding it in the tank.
We tested all the bogwood pieces on a large table to see which of them would create a nice and stable combination (keeping discus is a great advantage in this aspect) and then attached the plants on the selected parts.
Bogwood is the name given to pieces of trunk or root which have been preserved by organic acids in peat bogs: this makes bogwood very different from drift wood, or dead wood found in a forest.
Bogwood can be bought in aquarium shops or sometimes obtained from people who have found it themselves in its natural environment.
Before any piece of bogwood is used in a tank it should be thoroughly soaked so that it becomes completely waterlogged: this prevents its rising or floating in the aquarium.
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