waterfall in vivarium

[Kevin Chang]

I'm currently constructing a 29 gallon vivarium with a waterfall as the centerpiece. How i have it set up is so the water will fall down a large piece of wood. Now the piece of wood is nice and cleaned and has been weathered for some years.

My friend is telling me that i need to cover the wood that is going to be in contact with the water in epoxy...is this true?

he says if not it will rot. But if my wood has already been weathered, will that make a difference?

and also instead of epoxy would i be able to use clear silicone instead?

[J Teezy]

think it all depends on what kind of wood it is. Silicone is a nice sealant to use for stuff that will be in constant contact with water. I used silicone as the sealant for my background that I made of styrofoam which was covered in grout then painted with acrylic. Since the enclosure will be constantly humid and being misted i covered the whole thing in a layer of clear silicone. The one downside (to some it isn't) with using silicone is that it leaves you piece looking shiny. To combat this some sprinkle sand over the silicone before it dries. I sprinkled black sand on mine to break up the shine, though the shine makes it look like its wet so its not all that bad