Mopani vs Malaysian driftwood

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Reeffrog

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Oct 21, 2013
Messages
18
I want to order some driftwood for my 38 gallon freshwater setup. Drs Foster and Smith offers Mopani & Malaysian driftwood. I was just curious to what other people's experience / preference was between the two.
 
The main difference for me was the colour the tannins in them made the water. One yellow, one red. I believe it was Malaysian that made the water reddish/brown.
 
Mopani tends to release tanins darker and longer than Malaysian. If you want some wood that will release virtually no tanins check out Manzanita. Looks the best too.
 
Mopani is more twisty, thin branches that have difficulty sinking initially, while Malaysian tends to be thicker, more splintery, and sinks quite readily. Malaysian leeches red/brown tannins, while Mopani leeches yellow tannins. I usually stick to Malaysian since it's easier to sink and has better hidey holes for larger fish, but Mopani would probably be better if I was looking for more of an obstacle course for smaller fish to swim through. It's completely up to personal preference and the look you're going for :)
 
The main difference for me was the colour the tannins in them made the water. One yellow, one red. I believe it was Malaysian that made the water reddish/brown.

it is mopani that makes it red. i just put this in my new spec v a couple days ago and the water is extremely red
img_2721151_0_7e8b7aa3e6048c8feb327880589684f8.jpg

img_2721151_1_6ffe24aa26088cd6593133bc3a60a75d.jpg
 
I have Manzanita in my tank. I bought it sand blasted and soaked it a couple of days. No tannins at all.
 

Attachments

  • 20131023Aquarium IV_180224.jpg
    20131023Aquarium IV_180224.jpg
    250.9 KB · Views: 230
I have mopani in my tank and I love it. Yes, it does release quite a bit of tannin, but it sunk immediately, it's two-toned, and has a beautiful curve in it. But I also haven't tried Malaysian.
 
I have ordered both kinds from drsfostersmith and I love them both. But my personal preference is for the malaysian.
 
Added my Drs. Foster & Smith mopani driftwood today. Looks great!
 

Attachments

  • image-2786944122.jpg
    image-2786944122.jpg
    130 KB · Views: 116
  • image-1602171408.jpg
    image-1602171408.jpg
    141.2 KB · Views: 145
I have one piece of mopani wood in my tank, not as big as the pictures above though. I soaked it in a bucket for almost 2 weeks until it stopped leaking tannins to much. It had no problem sinking and it looks great. I bought it for my pleco but he really doesn't seem to care about it that much!
 
My Kuli likes it
 

Attachments

  • image-1487252393.jpg
    image-1487252393.jpg
    130.5 KB · Views: 83
Very nice piece! I have a piece of what I believe to be the same, I failed to pre-soak, turned my 29 g brown brownnn for a few weeks, still leeching tannins 2 months later, Pleco's love it!
 

Attachments

  • image-238898359.jpg
    image-238898359.jpg
    189 KB · Views: 99
Back
Top Bottom