IIIHawKIII

OK. so i got some ZooMed brand mopani driftwood from a giant chain store. i know.....but my LFS is pretty much teh suck and doesn't have hardly anything in stock due to our wonderful economic situation. anyway...

scalding hot watered it. let that water cool, dumped it out. then scalded it again and let it sit for over a week. changed the water a couple times during the week.

scrubbed it with a brush and popped it in the tank.

now i notice these little zit lookin things. almost like fish eggs. kinda yellow gold stuff. took it out to scrub it...and i think it is sap. it's awful sticky when i push on it, it sticks to my fingers.

2 questions...will it hurt any of my inhabitants? 3 ghost shrimp, 4 harlequin rasboras, 2 glowlite tetras....and....a fan tail goldfish. (my girlfriend wanted it SO FREAKIN BAD.) might be movin him over to a separate tank at some point.

second, can i get rid of it? i've already got an anubia threaded to it and would prefer NOT to have to reattach it all, but if i HAVE to i guess i can.

thanks for any info!

Attached Images

	DriftZits.jpg (361.9 KB, 62 views)
	DriftZitsClose.jpg (474.9 KB, 57 views)

Shawnie

if it is sap, it most deffinately cannot go in the tank..im thinking its more for lizards n such...

IIIHawKIII

it says it is for both on the tag. maybe i should come up with a way to get it into BOILING water as opposed to just scalding hot.

Shawnie

either way, if that is sap of some kind, it will awlays seep out even after boiling...it looks like sap too so id be very careful and sorry but WELCOME TO FISHLORE!!!

IIIHawKIII

http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/En...Jtb3BhbmkiO30=

that is the stuff right there.

Shawnie

oh I believe you when you said it was for aquariums, but something is leaking and you said it feels like sap so that would make me leary ...but you can tell im sure if its sap or not

IIIHawKIII

i wasn't trying to "prove" it to you, just show you what i got. i'm gonna leave it in there for now and see what happens. keepin a close eye on it. any way to get rid of it?

IIIHawKIII

ok. so i boiled the stuff and the zits seem to disappear. so maybe most of the sap came out. i know there was a lot of it in the boiled water.

Shawnie

unfortunately, if you really believe it is sap and not something else, you will never get it all out and it will leak in to the tank ...even boiling wont work..if i was you, id take the pic you have with the sap leaking, and call the company for a refund or another piece of wood and send them that pic....if they are a reputable company, they will know that sap of ANY kind will not work in an aquatic atmosphere .but thats me

IIIHawKIII

Well, that isn't a bad idea. But how do all these other people use mopani?

Shawnie

you are going on their word that its mopani...most of what ive read about mopani, is the tannis issue...but ive never read or found anything about sap from it...its deffinately a hard wood tho...id still email the company, with your pics, and explain that sap is coming from this and sap definitely shouldnt ever be in a tank no matter what the type of wood it is

IIIHawKIII

Same here, all tannin issues. Couldn't find anything about the "zit" sap like mine. Probably will email them when I get home.

IIIHawKIII

here are some pics of it post 3 boilings. think i should still email them? or just let it ride for awhile?

Attached Images

	DriftZitBoiled.jpg (227.9 KB, 48 views)
	DriftZitBoiled2.jpg (191.7 KB, 44 views)

Shawnie

if it were me, id email them still with the first pics and I wouldnt have trusted it back in the tank..but again, thats me

IIIHawKIII

i emailed them. just finished. i'll let you know what i find out. thanks for your advice in this thread and all the others.

wabash

I would say you just got a bad piece (I have had the same experience with woodworking, some pieces aren't seasoned properly and just keep bleeding sap). It was probably the perfect piece though eh. Hopefully they will replace it and you can carry on.

IIIHawKIII

yeah. it was an AWESOME piece. kinda like an upside down T with a whole thru the center with splits/knurls on the bottoms making PRIME planting spots.

UPDATE...

i emailed them the pictures and about a week later i got a response saying that "nothing in mopani is detrimental to fish" but that they would be sending me a replacement piece.

so far, so good.