Grapewood?

[Carch]

I picked up a couple pieces of grapewood for super cheap at a local petstore, but I've never actually had any real experience with wood in tanks, so this would be my first shot.

How's grapewood do in aquariums? I've read here and there that it can get "slimey" and grow some sort of white fungus. I'm not too concerned about this because I have a rather large kissing gourami that sucks on everything, and I'm sure she'll eat the wood constantly.

I'm more concerned about potential hazards towards the fish. Both pieces are rather small (biggest being 2"x14"). Would they change the water chemistry a whole lot in a 40 gallon? Would the slime/fungus be an issue towards the fish?

Thanks.

 

[RedDwarf]

The grapewood should be fine in your aquarium as long as it doesn't have any bark still on it. Just be prepared to have to wait a good long time for it to eventually sink.

 

[JK47]

I posed the same qestion a while back and was told not only will it take forever to become water logged, it decays fairly quickly. I passed on it.

 

[solidconceptgroup]

True before my friend gave me his 240 gallon tank he had a few large pc's of grape wood and after a few weeks the tank looked like someone has dipped tea bags into it...the water was so dark you could barely see the fish...It also killed his payara, catfish, and gar....

 

[kallmond]

True before my friend gave me his 240 gallon tank he had a few large pc's of grape wood and after a few weeks the tank looked like someone has dipped tea bags into it...the water was so dark you could barely see the fish...It also killed his payara, catfish, and gar....

Shenanagins.

I can't speak to the payara, but the catfish and gar would thrive in a tannin rich environment.

Tannins = good for (most) fish, bad for fish-viewing. More water changes, eventually the wood will stop releasing tannins and the water will go crispy again.

 

[JK47]

Tannins = good for (most) fish, bad for fish-viewing. More water changes, eventually the wood will stop releasing tannins and the water will go crispy again.

^ This... 100% true. And when the wood stops leaching you throw it out and buy more because tannins look great

When I said it "decays" I didn't mean leach tannins for the record, I literally meant decays as in breaks apart and rots away. Again, just what I was told so no personnal experience with it.