grapevine wood

[zeebo]

if it has been covered here, sorry i missed, but the dude at lfs said grapevine wood, all twisty and knotted , is not to be used in fish aquariums, even if boiled . He workes in the bird and reptile section but seemed adamant that its a no-go for tanks. anyone familiar with this ?
thanks , georgie

 

[Stan]

I've used it several times over the years with no problems aside from it takes forever to sink so weighing it down is a must. It does leach much more tannins then other woods but personally I like the dark water look.

 

[zeebo]

thanks Stan, i saw it on a ''sale'' table , man it was hard to resist for 50 cents! maybe i will go back and grab it. thanks
georgie

 

[Brengun]

Grape vine dw is usually ok from the lfs but I did hear once of a guy who got some and it had actually come to the lfs via a vineyard and the vine had been sprayed with toxic stuff during its life bearing grapes.

This guy soaked the vine for months, boiled it and still, when he put it in his tank, the american cichlids would get sick. Eventually he just chucked it out.