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Tiki Bamboo Terrarium to Aquarium refurbish & cleaning questions

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G

I just purchased a neat bamboo terrarium that the prior owner used as a fresh water aquarium instead, needless to say it has some rotting wood in the "roof" section (I will be removing this and replacing it with a metal frame) and basic water exposure to the outside bamboo shell due to splashing. It doesn't look beyond repair to me....but I tend to be an optimist :) I am having a hard time finding a good tutorial on how to go about deep cleaning the hood, tank and stand (interior frame wood stinks of rot but bamboo outer shell is in good shape). I did a basic dry cleaning to remove the layers of dust, took an air compressor to it and wiped the bamboo and wood down with a moist rag. This poor thing really needs something more intensive though, I know removing the rotting wood will help a lot, but I worry about how to properly seal the bamboo after cleaning and the best way to remove mold that might be under the bamboo. I would be so grateful for any advice concerning moldy smell removal, resealing and any input on transforming it properly into a saltwater aquarium. Thank you all so much in advance, I just love the passion and flare of the people on this site....I look forward to your thoughts and input!

Photos would help.
And many times people call rattan bamboo, Could this be rattan?
Rattan is solid not hollow like bamboo.

Good luck!!

G

Pictures, yes...very handy indeed :) Here are a few, sorry if the lighting is bad in one or two of them :)

T

Ok so that is rattan.
And I would guess each one of those rattan poles are nailed to plywood, so one
would guess that the mold and or smell is between the plywood and rattan.

That's going to be hard to get to.
If you wanted to check to see how it looks under the rattan layer you
could take apart one of the small doors to this and see how it looks.

But to fix the smell problem you would need to clean that mold that is very
hard to get to.

G

Rattan, eh? Interesting, I really thought it was bamboo... Not that it matters to me, I still think it' a fun and funky little addition to my ever growing retro obsession :) I will do as you suggested, it had occurred to me too that removing the bamb...errrr, rattan pieces would probably be inevitable. I'll just be sure to research sealing any/all cracks and crevices in it and applying an effective protective coating afterwards.
Thank you so much for your input and direction, your time and assistance is appreciated! :)

Pages: 1 4 replies