# Mopani wood and a Th. Meeki tank



## Ronzo (Sep 8, 2013)

The most recent thread on this is two years old so I thought I'd start a new one...the look of mopani wood is certainly interesting with its bicolor tortured grain and shape...so I bought several pieces with which to make some natural looking decorations and hiding spots/sight blocks for my squad of Th. meeki (55g species tank)...the product tag specifically notes that some leaching of tannins would occur, and that this could be minimized by presoaking...a search reveals no shortage of feedback to study, and other buyers have experienced this leaching to varying degrees, with some accepting it ("I love it...it makes for a natural looking blackwater biotope"), and others being less accepting of it ("...it turned the tank water to tea for three months, and grew a fuzzy mold-like scum, I finally removed it...never again!").

To prevent excessive leaching in my tank, I presoaked it and also slow-cooked it a couple of times on the stove (yes, it does leave a gooey residue on sides of the pot at the surface level, but these were easily removed with a steel-wool pad), then soaked it some more for a week in a 5g bucket in the hottest water I got out of the tub faucet, and finally in tank water at room temp. ...and it worked...the preleaching process has made it such that there is no noticeable darkening of the tank water, it looks neat as a decoration, and after eyeballing the caves cautiously for a day of so, several individuals have staked them out and can often be seen hanging out in them...BUT...now, after a couple of weeks in the tank, another issue issue is showing up: I too am seeing a fuzzy mold-like growth on most of the lighter areas of the wood! It doesn't seem to bother the tank inhabitants, but it does me! Where rest of the tank looks nice and clean, the fuzz growing on the wood detracts!

Some posters of feedback that I saw while researching noted that certain species of fish actually like and feed off this growth...I don't recall what this species is...I guess one question I would have is: What is this species, and would adding several individuals make an acceptable dither addition to the tank?

The tank is stable and I'm fairly happy with it at this point...there is a bit of a pecking order among what I believe to be a squadron of 6 females, but the decorations and sight blocks allow for general peace in the tank...I'm waiting for these juvie individuals (all are between 3-4inches) to grow and hopefully start displaying some of the colors the species is known for (I'm looking to add a male or two from a local CA cichlid specialist to help with this, all individuals are still pretty washed out in color)...but I'm not convinced I want to add a dither species...

I invite thoughts and impressions from those with experience!

Cheers from Connecticut!


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

The fuzzy growth is completely harmless and quite normal with "new" driftwood. It will eventually go away with time, however the addition of a Bristle Nose pleco will most likely clear it up within days.


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## Ronzo (Sep 8, 2013)

How would a bn get along with the meekis?...they're both bottomfeeders, so I am leary of introducing a problem combination...plus if the meekis ever have eggs, wouldn't I need to remove the pleco?

Cheers


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

I've had a BN pleco in all of my setups and I've never had a problem with them. This includes multiple different pairs of CA cichlids, T. meeki being one of them. The meeki will have no problem warding off the BN when there are eggs present.


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## yamadog (Oct 7, 2012)

Black mollies eat the white fuzz on Mopani wood. I had a BNP eat several spawns worth of firemouth eggs in my old 75g but not touch the fuzz on the wood although they love to chew on the wood itself. And yes, it will go away by itself. Mine took about two months to clear up.


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

I've got 2 bn's with Thoricthys no issues, the male even tolerated them in fairly close proximity to fry which surprised me.

As for fuzz on wood.. I've got some on wood in my fry tank, I think they pick at it too (thoricthys fry)


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## Ronzo (Sep 8, 2013)

...i guess my squadron of females is too well fed to show any interest in eating that fuzz...they are completely indifferent to it...I sure hope it goes away soon...I don't like it much and I will consider adding a BNP for the job...as long as he agrees to clear it up!

Cheers


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