I use only Mopani in my tanks. It sinks right away with no soaking, its got awesome multi-color grain patterns & it never rots. If you don't want tannins, you will have to boil it for several hours. I always boil mine anyway, but I keep some of the tannin because its good for my water & fish. The water turns a beautiful gold-red with mopani, but other wood types just turn it brown. Petco is usually the cheapest for mopani at 7.99 for small chunks. Petsmart charges like 12 bux for the small ones.
Mopani roots and Driftwood
- Thread starter Kanta
- Start date
My mopani chunks have always sank immediately. Not in minutes or hours, but like NOW. Maybe its just because I boil them first...
Foster & Smith have chunks of malaysian driftwood for pretty reasonable prices. The only drawback is you just pick a size category and take whatever random piece they give you. It's pre-cleaned, it sinks immediately, and I have not experienced any tannin staining or impact on pH.
I use mopani & african root, both are very dense wood & sink straight away.
I have only ever boiled one piece, & for me it was a pita.
Now I just rinse w/ hot water, put the wood in my aquarium, & add carbon to the filter for about four to six weeks.
I prefer to do it this way, & has the same end result as the boil/soak method.
The only reason I would boil again is if I were worried about contamination, other than tannin.
I have only ever boiled one piece, & for me it was a pita.
Now I just rinse w/ hot water, put the wood in my aquarium, & add carbon to the filter for about four to six weeks.
I prefer to do it this way, & has the same end result as the boil/soak method.
The only reason I would boil again is if I were worried about contamination, other than tannin.
Thats the tannins staining the water. Get used to it if you didnt boil the wood first... Its very good for the fish, but looks pretty rough for the first week. Water changes & carbon in the filter will help remove it, but if your piece was too big to boil I would expect it to stick around for a while.
