Spider Wood?

[SnuggleBug’sMama]

Has anyone used spider wood in their tanks? Found this neat piece, but never heard it mentioned before.
TIA!

 

[HoldenOn]

Nice piece! Never had any though .

 

[Retired Viking]

I have seen it at the LFS but like @HoldenOn I have not tried it yet. Nice looking piece of wood

 

[corylover5]

I have used Spider wood before. It is beuatiful wood. Only thing that happened to me was that it grew some wierd clear fungus and I had to hose it off every water change. It doesn't seem to harm my fish or grow on anything but the Spider wood. I'm no expert on it though so I'm not 100% sure what it is.

 

[SnuggleBug’sMama]

I have used Spider wood before. It is beuatiful wood. Only thing that happened to me was that it grew some wierd clear fungus and I had to hose it off every water change. It doesn't seem to harm my fish or grow on anything but the Spider wood. I'm no expert on it though so I'm not 100% sure what it is.

Someone else on another group said it developed a biofilm, but snails or shrimp clear that right up. I have a few Cherry shrimp in there, so they will love that!

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

Yeah I find it develops this clear goo around it, I tend to soak in a bucket for a few days (wiping it off as it grows) until its a bit cleared before adding it to the tank.

 

[Koglin]

Haven't tried it but I almost got some instead of my mopani wood for java moss.

Maybe try boiling beforehand would help help to clear out any unwanted bacteria in there, and also pull out big first batch of tannins (not sure how spider wood is with tannins). Boiling worked wonders with my mopani and malaysian wood.

If it does have tannins and you don't like the tea colored water look, throw a bit of Purigen in a filter media bag and put it before your chem filtration. Lasts longer than activated carbon (like, months longer compared to a week or 2), can be recharged (need at least 2 to do that) and it's safe for your fishys.

 

[SnuggleBug’sMama]

Awesome! I’m currently boiling it now.

 

[corylover5]

Awesome! I’m currently boiling it now.

I'm not certain but I have seen other members say not to boil it because it breaks down the wood fibers

 

[Koglin]

I'm not certain but I have seen other members say not to boil it because it breaks down the wood fibers

Oh no!?! Aaahh I should've read about it more before posting -.-'

Thought I had read that ppl boil it so it will sink easier.. don't remember seeing anything about deterioration in articles, but so far into the hobby I've learned a lot of articles don't scratch much below the surface info..

Hope the wood is ok >.< If it was boiled for a short amount of time I wouldn't overly worry

 

[itiwhetu]

Never seen it but intrigued what is the goo it produces!!

 

[mbsqw1d]

I recall Byron saying he had an issue with spiderwood:

How to prepare twigs or branches?

Somewhere in the USA. But still on Earth... : Yeah it's pretty expensive at pet stores here in the US, Amazon has some pretty great prices tho! That is shocking! I don't use Amazon anymore, I use eBay.

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