# Blooms and Branches



## howgeneric (Apr 11, 2013)

I ordered recently from them as well! What size branches did you get? I got the second smallest option they had. Mine look similar to yours.

Please update with pics of them in your tank, I'm interested in seeing how you decide to place/position them!


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## hambone870 (Feb 13, 2013)

howgeneric said:


> I ordered recently from them as well! What size branches did you get? I got the second smallest option they had. Mine look similar to yours.
> 
> Please update with pics of them in your tank, I'm interested in seeing how you decide to place/position them!


i got the smallest, i think, 10-12 inch

i may just use one of them but will have to see how it looks, they are for my 10 gallon dwarf puffer build

ill post a pic in this thread tonight!


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## hambone870 (Feb 13, 2013)

When I got home I rushed for my package. Two beautiful and intact branches were waiting for me. Shame that I had to cut the one down but, as is, it was too big for even the 20 long.

Pardon the clarity but the tank is 24 hours old and the miracle grow is leaching and the sand wasn't as washed as it could have been. 









I didn't really adjust the branches but will wait to see how they suit me after looking at em for a few days. I'm going to make a more dramatic slope against the wood with some extra sand before planting (plants due for delivery on Friday) but I think you can see where I'm going. Nothing fancy. 

I have ordered dwarf sag, Val, and kleinbar swords


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

Very nice! Is there bark on that or not? Just gonna warn you that bark may drop out as the wood gets accustomed to the tank.


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## hambone870 (Feb 13, 2013)

This is the sandblasted (it's hard to see it through the haze). Thanks, I'm digging the wood, a very classy feel to it. I don't think I'm gonna cover this in moss but I guess you never know..?

Thanks^^^^


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## Zeuner (Dec 1, 2011)

Talking from my experience with the wood from them, you have to boil it first. It's gonna make your water cloudy. I made a mistake when I introduced the wood straight to the tank. After a day or so, the water became so cloudy and my fish started gasping.


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## hambone870 (Feb 13, 2013)

For sure, I gave em a solid 20 min boil.

The cloudy water is from the substrate but will be cycling this tank and doing wc's for the next 2 weeks plus. 

I'll get a handle on the clarity in no time


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## becky3086 (Mar 22, 2013)

I didn't boil mine very long either and it was some driftwood my neighbor had that had been sitting outside for a while. It didn't make my water cloudy, not even the big one. I think the cloudiness of your water is just like you said, from the substrate. 
I think the wood looks great and I'll be watching to see how this turns out


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Guys post as many scaping pics of these wood as you can. I need scaping ideas. I got a big piece for my 45 and need ideas


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## Fiftymeatballs (Mar 30, 2011)

Just want to give everyone a heads up about my experience with this wood and supplier.
Please read this. 

I purchased manzanita from Blooms and Branches about 2 years ago. The prices for such massive pieces are what sold me, turned out to be a big mistake on my end. 

The wood I received was sand blasted and still had a green tinge to it, very slight one. It's not dried fully and never has been exposed to water. They take fresh live pieces and blast the bark off and mail it out. Since I read everywhere how manzanita will not really effect water chemistry I felt confident that I didn't need to purchase from a drift wood supplier. I notice though when you see pieces for sale online sold as aquarium grade manzanita they are much much darker, aka dead. Blooms and Branches pieces are very white/fleshy and fresh. 

I soaked the wood in the bathtub for two weeks at least, it felt like a year since it was the only shower in my apt. Draining and refilling, what a pain. I thought that would help water log it and make any tannins come out. The pieces were too large to boil, I did pour some boiling water into the tub onto the branches. 

I was so anxious to get them out of the tub I took the plunge and put two large pieces in my 120 gallon discus tank in place of malaysian driftwood. Everything seemed fine that day. Next morning looked good, went to work and came home to a horrible sight. All of my adult 6" discus dead on the bottom, amano shrimp all dead as well as some other livestock. A few lone survivors but not my prized discus that I had for several years. Man what a mistake!!! 

To think that two of these branches could cause 100 plus gallons of water to became so toxic in 24 hours was a shock to me. I always keep an air stone going full blast so I don't think it was lack of oxygen. I never was able to pinpoint exactly what killed off my livestock. I assumed that sap had leached out into the water. I never have been able to pinpoint what really happened. The water from my recollection was a little bit foggy. I did huge water changes and was able to keep a few of the survivors alive to this day, cories etc. 

Sorry to bum anyone out but when I saw the headline for this post I had to respond. Please don't make the same mistake I did.


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## Fiftymeatballs (Mar 30, 2011)

Oh yea one more thing, 

I did dry the branches outside for almost 6 months thereafter. After that I used it for decoration on top of my aquarium canopy, looked cool.

I retried them in my tank very carefully monitoring the fish after about a year later of drying. I am not saying they need to dry for a year, but after such a massacre of expensive fish I wasn't willing to take the risk. 

As expected once dried out fully they were fine in the tank, my fish were not phased and conditions ok. One of the two pieces did start turning dark and black looking after about 3-4 month submerged, so I decided to pull them out and get some huge malaysian driftwood pieces instead. They are now back to being just decoration on top the canopy.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Maybe a bad piece? I bought 2 pieces and they were great (31"). They were light weight and white, nothing funny about them. I put a few pieces straight in my tank (did not pre soak them). Within 1 to 2 weeks they are water logged and didnt float up. Nothing wrong with water either. This is the first time Ive heard of this about BB though.


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## Fiftymeatballs (Mar 30, 2011)

Zeuner who posted earlier said his fish were gasping after introduction of these branches. Sounds like the potential problem with fresh un dried pieces was noticed on time. 

Samee, what species of fish did you keep in your tank while introducing the driftwood? 
Also did you do any water changes within the first day or two of introduction?


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## Zeuner (Dec 1, 2011)

I agree with Fiftymeatballs, it's definitely much better to pre-soak the wood first. I boiled the woods from them for at least a week. And the drained water was really cloudy, but after that there's no problem so far. 

Here's what they look like in my tank:


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## hambone870 (Feb 13, 2013)

Zeuner said:


> I agree with Fiftymeatballs, it's definitely much better to pre-soak the wood first. I boiled the woods from them for at least a week. And the drained water was really cloudy, but after that there's no problem so far.
> 
> Here's what they look like in my tank:


And no strange fish deaths attributed the your wood?

There was a whole thread about people using it in their tanks safely


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Fiftymeatballs said:


> Zeuner who posted earlier said his fish were gasping after introduction of these branches. Sounds like the potential problem with fresh un dried pieces was noticed on time.
> 
> Samee, what species of fish did you keep in your tank while introducing the driftwood?
> Also did you do any water changes within the first day or two of introduction?



It was a few very small pieces first of all. 2nd, I have 1 oto and 1 SAE in my 45 gal (yes Im trying to master co2 and didnt bother getting fishes or shrimps). 3rd, I only do water changes on Sunday, I added the pieces on Sunday I think. My pieces have turned a little blakkish from areas, but that only makes them look more natural.


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## Fiftymeatballs (Mar 30, 2011)

I am pretty convinced the discus died from low O2 levels. These fish were very healthy and I had them for over a year doing great. They don't all just suddenly drop dead the day after something new was introduced to the tank. 

The few fish that did survive were gasping at the surface when I came home. Keep in mind one discus did survive. I lost 3 adults and 1 juvie discus, a few shrimp and a german blue ram. My neons and the discus cull made it through. 

If it was chemicals that leached into the water I am pretty sure all would have died. So I am ruling that out. Also since so many have had success with this company and since it's just sand blasted wood I doubt it was chemical. 

If I were to try this again I'd soak it, boil it if possible. Do large water changes or keep the fish in a quarantine or run air stone . Monitor PH for sudden drops, test O2 levels and most importantly do it on a weekend when you have time to monitor your tank for a few days.


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## Zeuner (Dec 1, 2011)

hambone870 said:


> And no strange fish deaths attributed the your wood?
> 
> There was a whole thread about people using it in their tanks safely


None. The woods are completely safe after I boiled them.


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