# Mopani Driftwood Smells like Rotten Eggs?



## Reccka (Jul 20, 2014)

Exactly as the title says. :-? I've been soaking my driftwood for about 2 weeks and starting last week, it now smells like rotten eggs. How do I get rid of the smell? It's really gross. It's also developing some kind of film at the top of the water daily. It gets really nasty. I'm even maybe starting to suspect that Petsmart lied to me. When I looked up the "All Living Things" brand of driftwood, I got mixed answers saying it was mopani or grapewood. I bought this one specifically because the tag in the store said mopani on it. Does this sound more like something grapewood would be doing?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Grapewood is fine to use as well, I've used it before without a hitch. Do you change the water daily? You're supposed to do that when you soak wood, or at least every couple days you should change the water out. The film is likely just a protein film, nothing to worry about.


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## MikeG14 (May 31, 2014)

Never used grapewood but I use Mopani in a few of my tanks and have never had a problem with odor. Then again I never really sit around in water for 2 weeks, I only do it for 2 days followed by boiling. I boil it for about 45 minutes, change the water in the pot and boil it again. After it cools off, I tie a few plants on it and it's right into the tank.


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## Reccka (Jul 20, 2014)

lilnaugrim said:


> Grapewood is fine to use as well, I've used it before without a hitch. Do you change the water daily? You're supposed to do that when you soak wood, or at least every couple days you should change the water out. The film is likely just a protein film, nothing to worry about.


Yup. Been doing every day. At least the film is normal! I was getting pretty worried about that part. Will it eventually just go away as the soaking and water changes continue?



MikeG14 said:


> Never used grapewood but I use Mopani in a few of my tanks and have never had a problem with odor. Then again I never really sit around in water for 2 weeks, I only do it for 2 days followed by boiling. I boil it for about 45 minutes, change the water in the pot and boil it again. After it cools off, I tie a few plants on it and it's right into the tank.


I'm going the soaking route mainly because I don't have anything big enough to boil this piece in. :-? Plus, I get paranoid about the whole "Oh, by the way, the wood might _explode_ so boil it outside." I know it's not likely to happen, but if soaking works just as well but just takes longer as a drawback, then I don't particularly mind doing it. Well, I didn't mind until it started smelling. I guess I'll see how it goes...some other sites are saying that it'll just go away once it leeches out.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Soaking doesn't kill of parasites and other bacteria though, it only allows the tannins to come out and for the wood to sink if it's not heavy enough.


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## Reccka (Jul 20, 2014)

lilnaugrim said:


> Soaking doesn't kill of parasites and other bacteria though, it only allows the tannins to come out and for the wood to sink if it's not heavy enough.


The wood is apparently already heat treated(according to the tag.) I'm not too worried about that. It's just leeching a lot of tannins.

Actually, scratch that. Just did the daily water change and it wasn't too brown today and the amount of smell and film was a bit less. Also, I guess I should probably mention that while I'm not able to boil this wood, it is always getting washed and soaked with at least steaming hot water and not cold. Hopefully this will clear up on its own. I was expecting a 3-4 week range before putting it in my tank when I bought it anyway.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, all the tags say that. I tend to not believe them though but I don't generally throw caution to the wind when using wood either lol. I just plunk them in and let them go at it since I like the tannins haha. But if that's all you're worried about, everything will eventually go away. It will get a slime as well if it hasn't already done that, its like a fungus and it can come in many different forms. It can be slimy or fuzzy or like cotton puffs, it's not harmful in anyway, just eventually the bio-film of the tank will take over and it will not grow that any more. It generally takes a few months to get rid of it. It's unsightly usually, but again, not harmful at all. And same with the smell; it should go away just fine.


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## Reccka (Jul 20, 2014)

lilnaugrim said:


> Yeah, all the tags say that. I tend to not believe them though but I don't generally throw caution to the wind when using wood either lol. I just plunk them in and let them go at it since I like the tannins haha. But if that's all you're worried about, everything will eventually go away. It will get a slime as well if it hasn't already done that, its like a fungus and it can come in many different forms. It can be slimy or fuzzy or like cotton puffs, it's not harmful in anyway, just eventually the bio-film of the tank will take over and it will not grow that any more. It generally takes a few months to get rid of it. It's unsightly usually, but again, not harmful at all. And same with the smell; it should go away just fine.


I like a little tannins myself, but this wood would've made my tank look like I poured coffee in it for a bit lol! Once the egg smell goes away completely, I'll put it in there. Mainly because I can't have this wood stinking up my bedroom.

It is getting a tiny bit of slime on one corner and I've just been thinking that it was part of the film it was getting. It's good to know that it isn't harmful either. I've just been scrubbing it off daily. I was also getting ready to give Petsmart an angry call if I found that this wouldn't all go away on its own! 

Do you happen to know if snails will eat the fungus at all? I have a ramshorn snail and was now hoping that maybe the fungus will make a nice snack for him.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Some snails and plecos will snack on it but not all will do a great job at it. I've found that Ramshorn and Rabbits tend to be the best for wood slime, followed by Nerites and Bladder Snails (commonly refered to as Pond Snails but two completely separate species). MTS and Mysteries hardly ever touch the stuff.


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## Reccka (Jul 20, 2014)

lilnaugrim said:


> Some snails and plecos will snack on it but not all will do a great job at it. I've found that Ramshorn and Rabbits tend to be the best for wood slime, followed by Nerites and Bladder Snails (commonly refered to as Pond Snails but two completely separate species). MTS and Mysteries hardly ever touch the stuff.


Great to hear that!  My ramshorn was a hitchhiker into my tank...so I like to say he earns his keep by keeping my tank clean. Hopefully he'll take to this piece of wood nicely then. Thanks for the help.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

A clear photo of the wood would make it easier to ID species of wood. Boiling may be helpful, I boil my wood for several hours then let cool before use in a tank.


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