Grapewood as driftwood?

[somecallmedaniel16]

Hello all!

I saw some very cheap wood at Petsmart today and on impulse I bought it, even though it was in the reptile department and did not mention use in a fw aquarium. It is a large grapewood log. Does anyone have experience with this wood or know if it can or cannot be used in an aquarium (assuming after soaking/boiling).

-Daniel

 

[HN1]

I would not use it. It softens and rots when submerged. It's great for herps, but not for fish.

 

[mgamer20o0]

what HN said.

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

I saw a couple other forum sites and looks like all people have tried it have had success with it, no signs of rotting.

 

[HN1]

I saw a couple other forum sites and looks like all people have tried it have had success with it, no signs of rotting.

Then go ahead and use it. Keep us updated.

Can you link the sources that state success?

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

sure! most people who have tried it experienced a temporary white, harmless fungus/protein on the wood that eventually went away. most say it has held up and looks fine, although it doesn't sink very well. A few, however have said that it falls apart easily. Nobody, though, has said that it has harmed their fish or anything. So I figure, why not? here are a couple threads:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/using-grapewood-89376.html
^ one guy who had a few posts on this one, grapewoodguy, seemed to have a good bit of info and was not against the wood's use.

Grapewood in aquarium....experiences?

 

[DragonFish71]

I have a piece going in the 55gallon. I let it soak for a few days and it sunk just fine. It tends to be Gonzo the pleco's favorite place to hang out.

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

no real problems with softness, breaking apart, rotting, etc?

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

**Update: I am using the grapewood and the fungus has gone away. It is slightly buoyant even still, but it holds down with a bit of gravel covering the base. I've attached a clump of moss and a java fern to it, which I think have started to grow into it.

 

[DragonFish71]

Yeah buoyancy can be a problem. We used fishing line to tie ours down to the UGF in the 55. It took about a month before it would stop trying to float off then I cut the line when I did a water change. Javas and anubias love it.

I have noticed on some of the smaller pieces that I used in other tanks they did get soft and there was an odor. The big piece is the 55 is fine tho. Maybe has something to do with the size of the piece *Shrugs* I'll eventually replace those small pieces with mopani or malaysian dw. Hmmm maybe even do that today since my boyfriend is taking me ram shopping at our LFS

 

[meegosh]

I had a piece in my 30g for a while and I got rid of it. It started to rot pretty bad and when it got picked at by fish it would float into the water column. It also had the white fungus on it for the whole duration.

I would consider replacing it at some point. Its up to you though, there are quite a bit of conflicting reports, even within this site. grapewoodguy replied to one of my posts about it too. Nothing against him or his products but I think he is a bit biased since he sells grapewood for aquarium use.