African wood

[luenny]

I went to a LFS this afternoon and saw some wood that looks a bit burnt on one side with lots of creases. The uncle there told me that they're African wood. Anybody tried this kind of wood before. How does it affect your water condition?

[Robert]

Hi,
normally you get no burnt wood in a LFS. There is a special kind of very hard African wood which fits your description pretty well. In Europe we know it as "Mopani wood". It is pretty heavy and contains lots of tannins at first. So the water will be brown for weeks or even months but normally it doesn't float if it is soaked with water. It doesn't rot and lasts for years in your tank even if you keep catfishes. The picture shows a wet piece of this kind of wood. Dry pieces look much brighter.

regards
Robert

[luenny]

Hi Robert,
Thanks for the reply. And yup, that's the kind of wood I saw in the fish shop. So, it's mopani wood. Contains lots of tannins eh? So probably need to soak it for months before using. Guess I'll go down to the shop today and search for a nice piece to try out myself (if they're still available).

Luenny