[LS6 Tommy]

I'm not sure if this thread belongs here or not. I just started to try "round 2" of my 10 gallon shrimp tank. I got some small pieces of "grapevine driftwood" at Petsmart in the reptile section. The person there told me she uses it in her 125 fish tank and it's not a problem, but it would need to be soaked for a few days to get it to sink. I'm going on a week, I even boiled it for 2 hours last night. Still floats. Nowhere as bad as when it was new. Should I just toss it, write off the $5.00 and get regular old driftwood?

Tommy

 

[A Hill]

This should answer your questions... Its a bit old but still good!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...pevine-planted-tanks.html?highlight=grapevine

The answer is a bit confusing to sum up in a few sentences, But yeah it can work.:hihi:

-Andrew

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I forgot to mention, I'ts sold as something like "Bob's Grapevine Driftwood- Heat Treated"
There's no bark or anything.


Tommy

 

[Rod Hay]

I too purchased grapevine for a new tank project. Yes, it will work. BUT it may take some time to sink, or a lot of time to sink!

I had two pieces and had them submerged in a rubbermaid tub. I changed the water daily adding HOT water each time. One piece started to stay sunk after two weeks. The other piece? It took over two months!!! I had it weighted down with a brick so it was totally covered in water, but it still took a long time. Of course somewhere around the third week I gave up on the daily hot water changes and put this hardscape project on a revised long term timetable.

One other problem was the grapevine started to be covered in a slimy, funky growth of some sort. Fungus? Bacteria? I'm not sure but I added a little bleach for a few soakings and it went away and has'nt come back.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

The wood's in the tank and on the bottom. :biggrin: Boiling it yesterday seemed to speed up the process. It was floating yesterday and tonight when I went to change the soak water in the bucket it was no longer floating.

Tommy

 

[danepatrick]

i wouldn't use this. it's going to grow a big fungus on it. probably hurt your water too.

 

[BlueRam]

Grapevine tends to produce lots of tannins (tea colored water) so you might want to soak until the water is clear.

Since you did boil it, you will likely get a fungus (normal, goes away) that is unsightly. Best to just let it soak some more.

The wood's in the tank and on the bottom. :biggrin: Boiling it yesterday seemed to speed up the process. It was floating yesterday and tonight when I went to change the soak water in the bucket it was no longer floating.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

i wouldn't use this. it's going to grow a big fungus on it. probably hurt your water too.

Well, if it does, I'll toss it. It only cost about $5.00 at Petsmart. It was supposedly "heat treated" if that makes a difference. The salesperson there is actually reasonably knowledgeable and she said she has had it in he 125 for over a year.

Tommy

 

[bgssamson]

Since you did boil it, you will likely get a fungus (normal, goes away) that is unsightly. Best to just let it soak some more.

Is boiling the reason behind for getting a "fungus"? any other comments on this! I am planning to boil mine but if this the case I will just get it soak in regular tap water.

-Brian

 

[yoko]

Is boiling the reason behind for getting a "fungus"? any other comments on this! I am planning to boil mine but if this the case I will just get it soak in regular tap water.

-Brian

Well, for driftwood, I soaked my wood in a tank with conditioned water and 2 filters. Noticed "mold" or fungus, removed the wood from the tank and scrubbed them down with a toothbrush under hot running tap water from my faucet. Then I soaked the wood in conditioned water in a bucket. It has been in the bucket for a couple of days, no filters, but still leeching tanins- but NO signs of mold.

Not sure if that applies to grape vine, but I was under the impression that grape wood was not the choice for wet environments.

http://www.blackjungle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Store_Code=BJTS&Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=GW

...Under wet or high humidity, grape wood has a tendancy to fungus or mold easily. For wet habitats, we recommend Cypress, Cork, or Ghost Wood

 

[SnBMeg]

Is boiling the reason behind for getting a "fungus"? any other comments on this! I am planning to boil mine but if this the case I will just get it soak in regular tap water.

-Brian

Boiling is not the reason for the fungus, and from what others have said it sounds like it's pretty much unavoidable whatever you do to the grapevine beforehand. The fungus will go away after a short while, faster if you brush/scrub it off when it appears. And once it's gone it doesn't come back, at least in my experience.

The first time I used grapevine (also purchased from Petsmart), I just put it straight in when I was setting up the tank and weighted it down (no boiling or soaking, just a thorough rinse/scrub.) I didn't add fish until a few weeks later, and by that point almost all of the fungus was gone. It didn't seem to have any negative effect on the water.

 

[Boz]

I used a large piece of grapevine once and it literally rotted in my tank. I also got mine from PS. After a few months, it was really soft and when I picked it up, the bottom was disgusting. Keep an eye on it. I didn't get mold, at least not visible mold, but the decay was enough to deter me from trying it again. The other piece is now in the kids' hermit crab tank.

Oh, and mine was also heat treated, if that matters.

 

[bgssamson]

Thanks for all your answer! The reason I ask is I have a grapevine that has a mold in the past & im planning to replace it with the manzinita that I ordered but I was wondering if boiling will do this to grapevine it might do it with any wood as well. So the question now is does anyone here have experience mold in there MANZINITA wood after boiling?

-Brian

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Mine got the white "fungus", but it went away within a week. It's still leaching tannins, but you can't tell except when you do a H2O chage you can see the color in the bucket.

Tommy

 

[TigerLilly]

I started soaking my grapevine in jan. I just put it in the tank this week. It still leaks tannins a little. It sinks now with no problem. I don't know anything about how there peices do long term. From what I've read the reviews vary greatly.