Driftwood = never rot?

I think mopani wood is considered a safe standard driftwood for aquariums. It should not rot. However, it may color your water yellow, because it will release tannins. This is harmless, but you can avoid it (or at least lessen it) by boiling the wood, and cooling it, before putting it in your tank.
I boil mine for about an hour, topping up the water as needed, in a pot that has NO dish detergent residue in it.
Mopani wood might also lower your ph, although if you are just getting a little piece it probably won't.
 
i have two pieces of Mopani wood from Petco (2 months old). not really worried about them rotting any time soon, but it will happen eventually.
 
All wood will rot eventually, it is an organic material after all. Wood from a hardwood tree will take a long time to even begin to break down, many many years. Softwood however will rot more quickly, over a few month or years.

If the mopani wood they sell actually comes from a mopani tree then it should last a long time because mopani is a hardwood.
 
Thanks for all the input. I plan to put it in a betta tank and from what I know, they like the tannins so it doesn't bother me. I will boil it before I place it in there to disinfect it though. =)
 
"Softwood however will rot more quickly,"

simply NOT true.

there are many species of 'softwood' trees.. some of these are extremely resistant to weathering and rotting.

it is the cell structure of the wood that determines if it is hardwood or softwood. often many of the 'softwoods' are harder than 'hardwood'.
an example of softwood that are resistant to rotting include cedar, cypress
and redwood. all, are resistant to rotting and some that fare extremely well in aqauria.

all wood will eventually rot tho since it is organic matter.
it's just some species will rot more slowly.

;)
 
If you keep your aquarium clean then the driftwood will mostlikely last longer than you. I clean my driftwood once every year or so to remove any wood that may be starting to breaking down.
 
Just a word of warning. Any wood you purchase from them if it has been in their tanks should be boiled. I bought a beautiful piece from there that was in a tank didn't boil it and ended up with leeches in two of my tanks from it. So if the wood is being kept in their tanks please boil. If it is dry, as most mopani is sold, it should not contain any types of parasites:)
 
msouth468 said:
If you keep your aquarium clean then the driftwood will mostlikely last longer than you. I clean my driftwood once every year or so to remove any wood that may be starting to breaking down.
Click to expand...

I didn't think a piece of wood in water would last longer then me. I had the idea that it needed to be replaced every so often. But it's nice to know the investment will last a while.

I was wondering if anyone has ever used a drill one of the larger pieces to make a hollowed log/cave like/or even just holes in this petco drift wood for fish to swim through? Would that work or look totally unnatural?
 
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