Mopani drift wood, the good, bad and ugly!

[Greenspot]

I am thinking off getting a piece of mopani driftwood. I was just wondering what your experiences with this type of wood are like? Does its sink straight away? Does it get that white fuzz all over it? Does it break up easily? Do plants attach to it well? Does it stain the water?
Thanks heaps for your experiences!

Also is it from sustainable sources? like not habitat destruction to get it?

 

[cichlid2006]

ive never had a piece of mopani that didnt sink straight away. very good type of wood and i have no complaints up to now. mopani has a nice 2 tone effect on it. the white fungus is a common occurance but its harmless in a healthy tank and can be vacuumed away during a water change or it will disappear after a few weeks anyway.
it doesnt braek up easily and i have fish that rasp/nibble it. plants attatch really well, my anubias nana is solid on it now and java fern gets in fast.
mopani doesnt stain the water nor does pre soaked wood called mangrove roots but real bogwwod does, it leaches tannins into the water. this can increase the acidity of the water and give it a slightly brown look, how dark depends on how much it leaches and how often you do water changes. it can be eliminated by using carbon if you think its that bad but regular water changes should keep on top of it.

 

[Greenspot]

Thanks heaps it sounds like good stuff, i've only ever heard good things!

 

[joey02]

i use mopani wood in some of my tanks. i find that it does does stain the water really bad unless boiled for a long time, but even then, it still leaches tannins.

 

[B_IN_SD]

I have 3 big slabs of mopani in a 125 they sunk right away,no white fuzzy's either. The pleco's stay glued to it too.

 

[snake_charmer]

does anyone have a pic of what this white fuzz or white funges looks like on the driftwood that is, "harmless". I just put a piece of driftwood into my tank about a week ago and it has some whitish glob developing on the open end of the wood. Sort of looks like sperm because it has that stretchy ilasticity.

 

[Knowdafish]

Mopani is great! If you pressure wash it you will only get a limited amount of white fungus, but it goes away. It does leach tannins. That's why I always presoak mine in a 55 gallon plastic drum before putting it in a tank. It does always sink right away as it is a very dense hardwood.

http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/E...zOjI6IjI0IjtzOjg6IlNlYXJjaF95IjtzOjI6IjIwIjt9

http://www.petco.com/product/102556/Zoo-Med-Aquatic-Natural-Mopani-Wood.aspx

 

[snaggle]

It usaly seems to take 2 or 3 days for it to sink for me. I would say that it stains the water but a little carbon in the filter and will come strait out. I have atached java fern to it in the past. And I have never seen any white fuzz on it.