Real Skull In Aquarium

[Enoid]

Even though it seems to be working for you, I don't think I would do it. I don't like Dead biotic Materials in my tanks, it always seems to rot one way or another. I don't like the Idea of Rotting things in confined tanks. Bones will break down after awhile, and I have no Idea what they let into the water as they do.(Besides Calcium, anyway.) just keep a real close Eye on it, if your fish act funny at all, I would blame the skull first thing. Good luck though, It is really kinda neat. Keep posting pics so we can see if/how bad the decomp is. I could be wrong and it could do nothing, in which case I might start using bones in my tanks.

 

[bfhslilred93]

i really want one for my piranha

 

[Lou8337]

I love this idea, too bad the horns didnt last, What im wondering is if you put on a non high gloss water proof epoxy or something similair all over the skull in a thin but effectiv coating, would that help to preserve it from decomp and the like?
Love it cant wait to see it when the ricca grows.

I was thinking the same thing since they use epoxy on the stone diy backgrounds. I think the skull is a sweet idea though. I'm gonna have to find me one now.

 

[trebor69]

taxidermists sometimes use a method called maceration to de-flesh animal skulls...basically soak them in water and let the flesh decompose under water

it works

but if you let the skull in water for too long there are some different pieces of bone that make up a skull and the connective tissue which holds them together will rot away. Then some pieces of the skull will fall apart.

The bones themselves will also get softer and begin slowly decomposing. How long it would take and/or how fast it would pollute your tank I dont know.

 

[Oddball]

In water that is acidic, the bones will decompose rapidly to buffer the water. Be sure you're maintaining species that can tolerate the changes in chemistry that will occur after every water change. In alkaline tanks, the bones will last much longer.
Sealing bones in epoxy will render them stable for use in aquaria and will not affect the tanks parameters. Epoxy can be thinned out with acetone to make the epoxy 'soak in' more deeply into the bone. Once cured, the epoxy is inert (as is with epoxy-coated gravels).