driftwood/grapevine ?????s

[azriel]

okay so ive fallen in love with driftwood. ive had a couple pieces of african root in my angel/discus tank for about a year (havent had the fish that long yet though) and its been great. it has kept my pH down at about 6.5 (reason iswitched the tank to angels/discus) and it looks great. however im going to be moving the wood and fish to a larger tank. i was wondering if i could add grapevine wood. ive seen some nices pieces at my store in the reptiles section adn had them sitting in a different tank to soak up water so theyll sink. they are now sinking but it looks like there is some kinda mold or something in a few small areas of the wood. i dont have any fish in the tank ive been cycling the wood in so i dont know if itll kill fish or why there is the funny residue. im thinking maybe i didnt rinse the wood enough and it was just some dust or something. if anyone has had experience with grapevine wood in aquariums i would GREATLY appreciate any advice. thanx.

[famman]

I have 2 large pieces of sandblasted grapevine wood. I too went through a fungus period and had to boil the wood again to get rid of it. We had to boil the wood for 2 days and still it floated for a week. My ruby barbs and angels seem very happy with it.
good luck
:)

[azriel]

thanks for the reply. i think ill scrub it and then put it back in the tank and put in a fish adn see how it all goes. the more i look at it... it really lucks lick it was just dust or something. thanx again.

[swreefer]

Grapevine should not be used in aquariums. It cannot handle the excessive water and will cause problems down the road. It rots and grows mold, algea, and generally looks like crap after a while. It should only be used in reptile habitats.
Stick to driftwood only in an aquarium.

[rob_hoosier]

I agree with Steve, I had the same problem years ago. Grapevine wood is supposed to be used for reptiles, not in aquariums. My suggestion is.........get it out!!!

[Homebrewhead]

New fish head here.

Thanks for the info.

My PetSmart, Petco moron told me to add sinkers to hold it down and it will be fine!

Now I have a piece of driftwood that has 1'' Algea Hair blowing in the current!

My Angel fish have been eating it. Is it bad for the fish?

I guess I look for some African Driftwood.

PS: It is a Blonde and Black mix. The Blonde is covered and the black is unaffected.

[congealedmeat]

I have grapevine that I soaked for a couple weeks before I tossed it in my tank. It still floats, but looks great.

I didn't know you shouldn't use it in your tanks though, I've never seen fungus on it or anything. My plecos love it and munch on it non-stop.

[Malachite]

Be sure to read the label. We were looking at some aquarium looking items at our local PetSmart and many of the items from the reptile section stated "Chemically treated. Not for aquariun use."