What's your favorite aquarium wood?

[Tam]

I tried searching the forum to see if anyone had asked this before and didn't come up with anything so I thought I'd start a discussion! I've been in the hobby for about 2 years now and I've only ever used spiderwood but I'm interested in trying out some other wood. Right now I'm working on starting up a 16 gallon tank and I read that if you do a dark start you can minimize algae and after about a month any mold that the wood grows should have gone through its cycle and pretty much clear up, but I'm like 2+ months until keeping this tank dark and my spiderwood is still crazy full of the stuff, no matter how much I clean it off it just keeps coming back. The pieces were too large to properly boil which I don't think has helped the situation, I've never had it this bad on spiderwood in the past. From general searching around I learned that spiderwood is actually the roots of the plant and since it stores a lot of nutrients it's more likely to grow this white mold that's currently driving me nuts. I'm thinking of just swapping it out and trying out a different kind of wood and I'm currently looking into manzanita. I'm curious what kind of wood others have experience using and what your favorite is!

[Peaceful Fish]

Mopani wood has always worked well for me. It will release a lot on tanins and won’t mold. I’ve also used Cholla wood and it’s been good as well. 

[lefty o]

spider wood is good, malaysian driftwood is decent, but i also prefer mopani.

[nabokovfan87]

3 hours ago, Tam said:

I've been in the hobby for about 2 years now and I've only ever used spiderwood

I've never used spiderwood, but I hear good things!

Cost being no concern I have two favorites.  Keep in mind that depending on who is selling it, wood is listed under so many different names.

First one for me is Manzanita Wood.

Second one for me is Pacific Driftwood. (Malaysian driftwood is pretty cool too, but I appreciate the "log style" of this stuff)

There's a ton of interesting bits of wood.  I've got a tank full of mopani.  It's slightly difficult to make something "nice" when combining a few pieces of mopani though.  I have a stump sort of piece of wood and that's cool, but if it's not this amazing looking piece, then it's just a big block of wood!  I have 2 pieces of mopani and they are really cool looking, I just wish I could make something really nice looking and also be able to just pluck it up to clean easily.  It's a great utilitarian wood for breeding setups!

In my big tank this is the wood I selected.  I didn't go with manzanita because it can be a bit thin.  I selected a piece to try to fill the space that looked great, but alas.... lost in shipping!!! 😠

This is Ghostwood, it's either a sandblasted version of manzanita or it's a sandblasted version of pacific driftwood.... just depends who you ask I guess.

 

[Lennie]

My fav is my ghost wood in my 42g tank. I also really like mangrove but I struggle finding good looking big pieces sadly

 

I wish ghost wood could remain whiteish under water after some time. I really like their beautiful color, but it turns out brownish after some time

[DaveO]

My favorite piece of wood came from a dead dogwood tree in the back yard. The next favorite source is my pear tree. It drops an occasional dead branch which is great in the aquariums. 

[Guppysnail]

Mopani is my favorite and usually sinks immediately but it’s chunky. I do like spider wood for the interesting structure but it takes forever to sink. I find grapevine to have the most interesting visual appeal to me. 

[madmark285]

My favorite wood was dead scrubs from a trail behind my house. The scrub grew along a railroad track which was abandoned long ago (70+ year). Trees grew and shaded the scrubs which slowly died off. Below is my tank which is now being convert for Mbuna cichlids (after I fix a leak, arg!!) . One lesson learned, the wood pieces were glued to the bottom of the tank and could not be removed. I would vacuum the gravel every water change but could not get under the wood or rocks. Massive amount of detritus was trap under them. Next setup, the wood piece(s) will be removable. 

The barbs are being moved to a 40 gallon tank and I will use one showpiece of wood for that tank. I may seal the wood with Krylon clear spray paint so they can be cleaned or cover the wood with Java moss. After 2 years in the tank,  the wood looked terrible.  Side note: the barbs are quite upset with their temporary home, a 29 gallon tank with plastic plants 🙂

[Tam]

19 hours ago, nabokovfan87 said:

I've never used spiderwood, but I hear good things!

Cost being no concern I have two favorites.  Keep in mind that depending on who is selling it, wood is listed under so many different names.

First one for me is Manzanita Wood.

Second one for me is Pacific Driftwood. (Malaysian driftwood is pretty cool too, but I appreciate the "log style" of this stuff)

There's a ton of interesting bits of wood.  I've got a tank full of mopani.  It's slightly difficult to make something "nice" when combining a few pieces of mopani though.  I have a stump sort of piece of wood and that's cool, but if it's not this amazing looking piece, then it's just a big block of wood!  I have 2 pieces of mopani and they are really cool looking, I just wish I could make something really nice looking and also be able to just pluck it up to clean easily.  It's a great utilitarian wood for breeding setups!

In my big tank this is the wood I selected.  I didn't go with manzanita because it can be a bit thin.  I selected a piece to try to fill the space that looked great, but alas.... lost in shipping!!! 😠

This is Ghostwood, it's either a sandblasted version of manzanita or it's a sandblasted version of pacific driftwood.... just depends who you ask I guess.

 

I can't believe you really listed all the ones I'm most interested in, those being manzanita, pacific driftwood, malaysian driftwood and ghostwood! I had no idea that ghost wood is actually just a sandblasted version of the first two. I'm really leaning towards manzanita because I feel like it's the best replacement for the look of spiderwood, if I do decide to swap them out I still have an overall look I want to achieve. Since you've used manzanita did you have any issue with the white mold growing on it? I know it's harmless but it's ugly and slimy lol

 

12 hours ago, Guppysnail said:

Mopani is my favorite and usually sinks immediately but it’s chunky. I do like spider wood for the interesting structure but it takes forever to sink. I find grapevine to have the most interesting visual appeal to me. 

Spiderwood does take forever to sink! I've always had to weigh mine down with rocks for at least a week.

[nabokovfan87]

1 hour ago, Tam said:

I can't believe you really listed all the ones I'm most interested in, those being manzanita, pacific driftwood, malaysian driftwood and ghostwood! I had no idea that ghost wood is actually just a sandblasted version of the first two. I'm really leaning towards manzanita because I feel like it's the best replacement for the look of spiderwood, if I do decide to swap them out I still have an overall look I want to achieve. Since you've used manzanita did you have any issue with the white mold growing on it? I know it's harmless but it's ugly and slimy lol

I have had some BBA issues, but I attribute that to my substrate most of all.  It likes the wood surfaces, but I've had wood in other tanks, once I changed the substrate things went bananas due to just a plethora of issues.  I soak my wood before adding it to the tank.  I swap out the water daily or every other day for about 7-14 days as need be to let it leech out a bit of the tannins.  Ultimately no.  I've not had any issues with biofilm or with mold.  I do keep clown plecos, otocinclus, and amano shrimp.

 

[TeeJay]

Yes I am for team mopani. Nice and dense. Usually will sink immediately as well. I like the color variations in it too. Cholla is my next choice but mainly because I keep a lot of shrimp and they like it. Ok downfall with cholla is it breaks down and rots faster than most.