Grape vine wood

[mawingo]

Hi,

I am thinking about using some old grape vine wood in my new Discus Tank. The wood is old and was cut out of a vineyard about a year ago.

Can you suggest if this is safe or not ?

I boil any wood for at least 5 hours sometimes more than once.

Any suggestions appreciated

Mawingo

 

[QTOFFER]

Hi, Mawingo and WELCOME!!!!!

Grapevine wood would certainly look interesting. I would consider three things:


1 Were pesticides used in the vineyard? If so, be very cautious.

2 Will the wood ever sink? Grapewood is not very dense - it's more herbacious than woody - you may have to weight it down by attaching it to slate with aquarium silicone

3 Will it hold up underwater? Some woods just decompose faster than others under water.


You may want to test out a piece first in your Q-tank. I am hoping to put cholla wood in my tank and because of concerns 2 and 3, I'm going to test it out first.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:014c288e9a] Welcome to AA, Mawingo!! [/center:014c288e9a]

I agree with QTOFFER--check out the wood before it goes in the tank. I have a piece of wood that looks like it should sink, but it hasn't sunk yet (6 months)! I have never ran into a probelm with wood not holding together, but I did put in a piece that was too soft and my pleco loved it (bad for me--what goes in must come out ). I never realized how messy a pleco could be 8O

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya Mawingo and welcome to Aquariumadvice.

We have a article on the treatment of driftwood found in the wild as opposed to a store. As long as the grapevine wood you have hasn't been exposed to fungicides, herbicides or pesticides, and can handle the rigors of the driftwood treatment, I'd give it a try.

And it likely will never be heavy enough to sink when waterlogged. You'll probably have to secure it to a piece of slate to keep it from floating. And as mentioned, keep an eye on it to be sure its not a type of wood which will rot in the tank.

 

[Menagerie]

I didn't know about that article--thanks!

 

[Allivymar]

Heh NP Menagerie

 

[Christmasfish]

Isn't there a new kind of fungus that can kill fish connected with grapewood? I am going to have to check my history and my daughter's. I am sure she mentioned it.
You might search for disease and grapewood.. it will be of course on a betta site.
Grape wood is actually a very heavy wood and would make great driftwood for a while. I always had it for repyiles..and we had a sun porch couch made from it.

 

[mawingo]

Hi guys/gals,

Thanks for the response. I have had the ....icide and the woodrot and sinking echo from my dealer and have decided not to put it in. This is a pity as the forms are very dramatic and look very rootlike. It looks like I will have to buy my wood from my local pet store. I was hoping to avoid doing so as it is horrendously expensive.

We get 'African Mopani' wood here which is very heavy and beautiful but is sold at 50 Swiss francs a kilo. I will be needing about 9 kilos!!! When there has been other wood types, their forms were not nice and would certainly not give the effect I am looking for.

The tank is 1.3m long and .6 wide by .6 high. ( +- 410 lit )

Anyway, thanks again for the info.

Cheers

Mawingo

 

[TankGirl]

I like swahala wood for its rooty, twisty appearance, with dark and light streaks in it. It is also extremely dense and does not float at all. I saw a gorgeous piece in one LFS but they wanted almost $100 US for it! HAH!

I went to another store and found a smaller but equally attractive piece for $6. It pays to shop around!