another new thing

for my window tank- I saw a few weeks ago that a branch up high in one of our maple trees had broken off. When it finally came down I cut it up into what I thought might be some interesting pieces to go across the back of the tank and hold the java ferns up higher, making kind of a shelter underneath them.

It looks pretty dry all through. I have been soaking it in changes of boiling hot water.

First round to get the bark stripped off, after that only two soaks seem to have removed most of the tannins. But I am not going to add the wood to the tank until I am ready to move it onto the new stand, and all that after the baby fish is big enough to handle the stress of such changes. Will do it all at once. More time for the wood to soak and waterlog.

Here's a quick pic of the tank, current state- last week I added another clump of windelov on a stone, from the betta tank- Fabio is resting in the background so not visible but the largest cory does a lot of 'glass surfing' so there he is, darting across-