Mopani Wood

Mopani Wood

Last summer, I bought two pieces of Mopani Wood for the 40 gallon acrylic aquarium. I had been looking at this driftwood online for a month or so and couldn't decide if I wanted a large piece or extra-large piece. I ended up buying the two large pieces you see in the video, from their discount shelf for a little over $5.

The colors of African Mopani root have made it a popular choice among aquarium and terrarium owners. It's black and tan colors spiral into unique and modeled formations. Some parts of this dense wood offer smooth surfaces, while others have very textured detail.

The great thing about Mopani wood is that it is a very dense wood. In fact it's one of the hardest and densest woods available for aquarium keepers. So why is this great? Because it sinks very easily without being weighed down or having to attach anything to it. This driftwood is also excellent at resisting rot.

To prepare this driftwood for my fish tank, I did soak it in a bucket of water for around three months. Basically, you want the tannins to clear out of the wood. I would change the water every week, until the water became almost clear. If you do use this driftwood, there usually is a little bit of color left in the water from the tannins; especially if you use a larger piece. I actually like the look. I think it makes the freshwater aquarium appear more natural.

I'm very happy with my new addition of Mopani wood to the aquarium, and I can tell the fish find it very interesting too.

If you are a lover of pleco fish, I definitely recommend this type of driftwood for them.

You can buy this wood below or check out my aquarium driftwood site.

Breeding Fancy Guppies

One of the most popular posts here at funfishtank.com is on techniques and tips for Swordtail Breeding. I recently received some great information from another fish breeder who raises Fancy Guppies, and thought I'd share the pictures and procedure Jon uses for raising these awesome fish.

Here's his table of  aquariums to the left.

The technique used in Breeding Fancy Guppies is similar to that of breeding swordtails and Platies, but Jon uses a little different method to reduce the amount of fry eaten by the adult.

He's got four tanks:

  • a 2.5g raising tank, heavily planted and some java moss at one end.(gives then organic matter to nip at and also hiding places).
  • the 10g plant ONLY tank, that has a lottt of cover and driftwood.
  • a 5g tank that doubles as a Quarantine tank.
  • and a 20g Display tank.

To the right-below,  is a shot of his 2.5 gallon tank with about 40 guppy fry in it.

For breeding Fancy Guppies he does the following:

"The 20g is a mixed community tank, once the “loving” is done and the female/s are gravid (pregnant). I will pull the female once i can view the eyes of the fry and the gravid patch starts to get dark and place them in the 10g PLANT ONLY tank if there is only one female at that time.

If there are 2 i will put them in the 10g in a divided breeding trap with a open grid bottom. In this case the fry will fall through into the tank and away from the mother. I will also do this if I will be away for more then 24 hours and can’t check every 3-4 hours. I check the tank about 3-4 times a day (or every 4 hours). My daughter helps with this part lol. :) This way you sometimes catch her in the act of giving birth (it’s a good lesson for the kids and also for Adults). The fry are free swimming as soon as they are born."

Below is a top-down view of the 2.5 gallon aquarium. Jon wrote, "This was originally a Betta divided tank. I started using 1/3 divided section for prego fish while keeping growing fry in the remaining 2/3. But the gap at the divider was too big and fry were passing it and getting eaten."

"The mother will not start to eat her fry till she is done giving birth (usually 2-3 hours) which falls right in with your “check-ins.”

"Once she has given birth, i take her out and place her in the 5g tank to relax b4 returning her to the 20g Display tank. I then net or syphone the fry from the 10g and place them in the 2.5g where they grow out….. i usually have a batch of fry every 2-3 weeks . I let the fry grow out to about 2 months in the 2.5g, and keep about 2-3 from each batch that have the best color and health and those lucky ones goes into my 20g Display tank and into my breed stock. The rest are given away to friends or sold cheap to local pet stores."

Thanks Jon...for the pictures and information on Breeding Fancy Guppies.

previous posts »
Next Page »
 
Web www.funfishtank.com