# Grapevine Driftwood question.



## lipadj46 (Apr 6, 2011)

tannins aren't the worst thing in the world


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## radfish (Apr 29, 2011)

it can take months/ years for the tea color to stop leaching. even if it's discoloring the water, it's still safe to use as long as the wood is not contaminated with any harmful chemicals. the tea color of your water will take some getting used to. the longer you can soak your wood and change its water before adding it to your tank, the better off you are.


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## treetom (Feb 11, 2011)

Boil it for couple hours if possible. I did this with some Malaysian wood and draind it 3 times over 2 hrs. Placed in tank with zero water discoloration.


_-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums_


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

treetom said:


> Boil it for couple hours if possible. I did this with some Malaysian wood and draind it 3 times over 2 hrs. Placed in tank with zero water discoloration.
> 
> 
> _-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums_


If only I had something large enough to boil it in...



lipadj46 said:


> tannins aren't the worst thing in the world


True, but I don't exactly cherish the thought of looking at my fish swim in tea. 



radfish said:


> it can take months/ years for the tea color to stop leaching. even if it's discoloring the water, it's still safe to use as long as the wood is not contaminated with any harmful chemicals. the tea color of your water will take some getting used to. the longer you can soak your wood and change its water before adding it to your tank, the better off you are.


That's an awfully long time....yikes. Guess I'll just soak it a bit longer and hope for the best.


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## Zerocon (Apr 14, 2011)

Get some seachem purigen, works so well


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## JasonG75 (Mar 1, 2011)

treetom said:


> Boil it for couple hours if possible. I did this with some Malaysian wood and draind it 3 times over 2 hrs. Placed in tank with zero water discoloration.
> 
> 
> _-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums_


 
totally agree, this is all i ever do and I have little to no leeching.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

will it fit in the dishwasher? put in the dishwasher for a cycle without soap and rinse aid

you could also bring water to a boil in a pot and pour it on the branch. that might help I dunno


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

kamikazi said:


> will it fit in the dishwasher? put in the dishwasher for a cycle without soap and rinse aid
> 
> you could also bring water to a boil in a pot and pour it on the branch. that might help I dunno


Hm, dishwasher might be promising and seems the most practical. Thanks for the idea on that one.


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## lipadj46 (Apr 6, 2011)

I have put a very large piece of manzanita in my 55 gallon (a piece from tom barr) with about 8 hours of soaking in hot water and got very little discoloration. I would not worry about tea colored water.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

freph said:


> Hm, dishwasher might be promising and seems the most practical. Thanks for the idea on that one.


I should note a disclaimer...
I'm not to blame when your wife gets pissed when you run a stick through the dishwasher.


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## treetom (Feb 11, 2011)

Try boiling water and pt in the tub. Won't be as good and won't mess up the dishwasher.

_-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums_


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

kamikazi said:


> I should note a disclaimer...
> I'm not to blame when your wife gets pissed when you run a stick through the dishwasher.


Thankfully only an angry mother/father (which, I won't have to deal with since I'll probably just stick with the tub advice to avoid that exact problem, heh).



treetom said:


> Try boiling water and pt in the tub. Won't be as good and won't mess up the dishwasher.


Seems to be the popular option. Will do tomorrow morning.  Thanks for all the help, folks. :thumbsup:


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## imasaved (May 3, 2011)

*grapevine*

I was looking at grapevine because of the unique shapes and such and as I was researching I came across a couple places where they warned definately not to use grapevine in a aquarium setting. I dont remember the particulars, but maybe you should do a little more research. The other posts dont mention actually using grapevine. I agree with what they are saying for Malasian wood. Good luck. If you go through with it let us know. I wouldnt put it in with alot of expensive fish to test. :icon_smil


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## lipadj46 (Apr 6, 2011)

imasaved said:


> I was looking at grapevine because of the unique shapes and such and as I was researching I came across a couple places where they warned definately not to use grapevine in a aquarium setting. I dont remember the particulars, but maybe you should do a little more research. The other posts dont mention actually using grapevine. I agree with what they are saying for Malasian wood. Good luck. If you go through with it let us know. I wouldnt put it in with alot of expensive fish to test. :icon_smil


grapewood is used extensively in aquariums and terrariums.


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

I think grapewood is one of the woods that rots for a very long time.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

imasaved said:


> I was looking at grapevine because of the unique shapes and such and as I was researching I came across a couple places where they warned definately not to use grapevine in a aquarium setting. I dont remember the particulars, but maybe you should do a little more research. The other posts dont mention actually using grapevine. I agree with what they are saying for Malasian wood. Good luck. If you go through with it let us know. I wouldnt put it in with alot of expensive fish to test. :icon_smil


Been in my tank for a little over a week now. Fish love it, especially my striped raphael and rubberlip. Still leaching a bit, but ah well. The yellowsih tint gives the tank some style...and makes it look almost like a chunk of a pond got cut out and put in my room. :hihi:


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

freph said:


> Been in my tank for a little over a week now. Fish love it, especially my striped raphael and rubberlip. Still leaching a bit, but ah well. The yellowsih tint gives the tank some style...and makes it look almost like a chunk of a pond got cut out and put in my room. :hihi:


Picture??


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

kamikazi said:


> Picture??


Just now getting into the planted hobby and experimenting with the selection my local PetsMart has. 20g tall. Currently a few bundles of moneywort that have been growing very nicely so far. Stock hood lighting and dosing .5mL of Seachem Flourish bi-weekly. No CO2. PFS substrate. Feel free to make fun of my fake planted background. :hihi:

Hopefully I can find some more driftwood and make some kind of centerpiece with it....

I apologize for the glare/bad quality....old camera is old. :icon_sad:

You can kinda see my striped raphael in the reflection off the back glass in this one.









Shiny zebra danio. 









FTS.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

nice looking grapevine wood! fancy canister filter, i'm jealous. if you leave that back ground on it you could try to find some rocks that look similar to those in the back ground and that would help tie the tank to the back ground. From my experience petsmart has a horrible selection when it comes to plants. They do usually have camboda and swords but i rarely see other popular plants like crypts and vals. I dunno what all is in fayettville, but look around for a mom and pops type place they might have more variety and if they don't might be willing to order for you if you don't want to do it yourself over the internet.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

kamikazi said:


> nice looking grapevine wood! fancy canister filter, i'm jealous. if you leave that back ground on it you could try to find some rocks that look similar to those in the back ground and that would help tie the tank to the back ground. From my experience petsmart has a horrible selection when it comes to plants. They do usually have camboda and swords but i rarely see other popular plants like crypts and vals. I dunno what all is in fayettville, but look around for a mom and pops type place they might have more variety and if they don't might be willing to order for you if you don't want to do it yourself over the internet.


Don't even know if Aquarama is a "mom and pop store", but the only thing I've ever seen them sell is banana plants and random plants glued to driftwood...and they also have TERRIBLE reviews if you search around.  Other than that, PetsMart and Pet Supermarket are the only options I have....and Pet Supermarket never really has too much of a selection. Cool fish from time to time though, and also the most consistent stock of ghost shrimp and otos whereas my local PetsMart has been out of otos for 2 weeks now. Wish I would've grabbed their bristlenose pleco when they still had it...I know PetsMart carries anacharis (hate hate hate this plant as it always seems to just fall apart in my tank), moneywort, corkscrew vals, swords, java ferns, moss balls and a couple others that I can't remember off the top of my head. Thanks for the idea about blending the background as well as the comments on the wood and canister filter (an eheim 2215 from big al's, great price and there's also a hydor 200w attached to it).  I'd love to grab a few nice plants off the forums or around the internet, but the shipping always kill me....I'd rather make do with what I have than pay more for shipping than the plants.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

freph said:


> Don't even know if Aquarama is a "mom and pop store", but the only thing I've ever seen them sell is banana plants and random plants glued to driftwood...and they also have TERRIBLE reviews if you search around.  Other than that, PetsMart and Pet Supermarket are the only options I have....and Pet Supermarket never really has too much of a selection. Cool fish from time to time though, and also the most consistent stock of ghost shrimp and otos whereas my local PetsMart has been out of otos for 2 weeks now. Wish I would've grabbed their bristlenose pleco when they still had it...I know PetsMart carries anacharis (hate hate hate this plant as it always seems to just fall apart in my tank), moneywort, corkscrew vals, swords, java ferns, moss balls and a couple others that I can't remember off the top of my head. Thanks for the idea about blending the background as well as the comments on the wood and canister filter (an eheim 2215 from big al's, great price and there's also a hydor 200w attached to it).  I'd love to grab a few nice plants off the forums or around the internet, but the shipping always kill me....I'd rather make do with what I have than pay more for shipping than the plants.


You could just make the two hour trip to Charlotte instead of paying for shipping. Also you might be able to get in touch with some of the Charlotte fish keeping club members for plants.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

kamikazi said:


> You could just make the two hour trip to Charlotte instead of paying for shipping. Also you might be able to get in touch with some of the Charlotte fish keeping club members for plants.


My father actually has doctor appointments in Charlotte (kidney and liver transplant needed, well worth the drive), so that might not be a bad idea. If I could work out some times with the Charlotte fish club people then that'd work very nicely.


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## PC1 (May 21, 2010)

The reason grapevine is shied away from as an aquarium wood is it's not a real hard wood and will tend to rot quicker than most. Those particular pieces you have in there will leach tannins for a looooong time. The pieces you have are more for reptile cages and still have parts of the skin attached which is what is going to give you that tea color longer. Still they are a neat looking wood.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

PC1 said:


> The reason grapevine is shied away from as an aquarium wood is it's not a real hard wood and will tend to rot quicker than most. Those particular pieces you have in there will leach tannins for a looooong time. The pieces you have are more for reptile cages and still have parts of the skin attached which is what is going to give you that tea color longer. Still they are a neat looking wood.


Very neat wood indeed. I see you have quite a few pieces of manzanita for sale......might consider a purchase if I ever tire of the pond-like look my tank currently has.


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## PC1 (May 21, 2010)

Every now and then we all change our tanks up a bit


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

freph said:


> My father actually has doctor appointments in Charlotte (kidney and liver transplant needed, well worth the drive), so that might not be a bad idea. If I could work out some times with the Charlotte fish club people then that'd work very nicely.


Good luck to your father! I don't have any direct contact with anyone from the Charlotte group as I go to the Hickory meetings. But I might be able to find an email contact and I will PM it to you.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

kamikazi said:


> Good luck to your father! I don't have any direct contact with anyone from the Charlotte group as I go to the Hickory meetings. But I might be able to find an email contact and I will PM it to you.


That'd be great. Many thanks.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

freph said:


> That'd be great. Many thanks.


pm sent


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## anubiasnick (Mar 20, 2011)

I have used several large pieces in my seups over a few years with NO problems what so ever! and its all free for me ! my house is bulit on an old vineyard lol


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