majoywoo Natural Small Coral Driftwood for Aquarium Decor Fish Tank Decorations, Assorted Driftwood Branch 4.5-7.5" 5 Pcs, Reptile Decor

Waste of Money

I've ordered these a few times now. I find the smaller pieces much higher quality and more interesting than the larger ones. They are accurate and true to size, but every now and then you'll get a simple stick, not a piece of wood with character. Overall, I would order again. Oh, and they do have A LOT of tannins, so be prepared to prep them. Perfect for a Blackwater tank.

So I’ve ordered from this company at least three or four times over the years. Only once was I disappointed after unpackaging moldy wood. After I got over the disappointment of that order (which I did return), it hasn’t stopped me from continuing to order from this seller because of my past positive experiences. I’ve ordered both spider wood as mopani. This particular time I ordered 2 pieces of spiderwood, and I was not let down. The pieces are super unique, all at least 12” in length and loving the shapes. I’ve learned 1) You (almost always) get what you pay for in terms of the size you order. It is natural wood so every piece will be unique 2) It’s like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. If you’re not happy with what you received (ex: 3 smaller pieces of spiderwood but you expected to get pieces that were bigger, then you probably should pay a little more 🤷🏻‍♀️). Or if you don’t like the shape, well….its natural wood . Also keep in mind some super glue, a piece of cotton (and some of whatever substrate you have to sprinkle over the glue to cover the white color the super glue dries)…..then you have more flexibility make what you want you can take those smaller pieces and create your own, unique piece. As I’ve learned since I started this hobby, you don’t have to be disappointed with what you receive (unless you paid for 2 larges pieces and didn’t receive two large pieces), you can do so many things with multiple small pieces. They don’t have to be just some wood that lays flat in your aquarium. Save some money (if you don’t end up returning it bc you got pieces arrived moldy)….and find a way to scape your tank with what you have. I boil all of the wood (and all things related to hardscape) every time. I’m still expecting there to be some tannins in my tank, but fish like it, it’s good for their slime coat and it’ll eventually be clear with proper maintenance as well as time. Im still anticipating it’s not going to sink straight to the bottom so I plan on anchoring them anyway for stability. And if you begin to see some fuzzy, unsightly white organic biomaterial growing on your wood, it’s more likely than not both the wood and your tank are trying to find an equilibrium and the white stuff with eventually go away if you don’t choose to try and get rid of it first. And for those who are complaining about their wood not sinking right away after boiling/sinking, then use a rock of something to anchor it down until it’s waterlogged. Problem solved. I’ve boiled and boiled sometimes and the wood still wouldn’t sink. So basically if you’re not happy with it or you feel like you got ripped off, then contact the seller. Otherwise look at it as a chance to do something cool by creating your own piece. My two 12” pieces of spiderwood did have some natural tiny thorn-like pieces (since remember: it’s natural wood), but I sanded those to try and help mitigate any injury to my fish. I saw some negative reviews from other people, looked at their pictures and thought : I would love to have received that piece. But the two pieces I received are going to be perfect for my river bed theme in a tank set up I’m working on now. Definitely recommend this seller as definitely will be ordering again in the future.

Adequate sizing & length of wood. They do leak tannins even after 2 hours of boiling, but 4/5 woods sink. The largest piece floats (& is to be expected) so I'll soak it for a while & use it as a centerpiece. Although the packaging itself was somewhat difficult to cut out, the obvious care in it was astounding! Tightly wrapped & bound to ensure no breakage. However, the smallest of the 5 woods was a bit of a disappointment, despite finding a place for it in my 10gal tank. In all seriousness, 7-8/10 stars if I could rate it more specifically. :) Edit: the largest piece sunk after roughly 24hrs of soaking, but any piece has a chance of needing a(n) longer time to sink/anchor 08/19/2023: I rescaped two days prior to this edit. I'm satisfied with my scape as of right now. The woods fit together nicely, and there are spots where the betta can hide in, a "cave". I did notice that it smelled awful in some places, like it was biofilm or whatnot despite it being in there for a month. And I noticed some sharp points that I covered with Java Moss. Little pieces of loose bark floated in the water. Still a little disappointed about the smaller pieces of wood. For any ten gallon tanks, I'd say get the medium size woods they have. These pieces are meant for nano tanks, or smaller tanks below 10 gallon. Definitely regretting a little I didn't spend my money on the medium sizes. My male betta loves the hiding spots though, despite knocking and uprooting my plants like once/week. Still lovable. Buy at your own risk, will receive different pieces of wood, so experience on this seller will differ. 9/15/2023: Soooooo. The biggest piece of wood I had was peeling. For context, after I put it in, it built up a white "sludge" that STANK. I'd heard of biofilm, so I thought it'd go away eventually. It was a very sturdy piece, so it was solid enough for me to brush it with a (clean) toothbrush. To my surprise, the very top layer peeled off, and when I tried to peel it off thinking it'd stop there, an even BIGGER piece peeled off. At least part of the length of wood and 1cm in thickness. Not happy right now as I have shrimp, thinking they would eat the biofilm and leftover food. Keep in mind shrimp are small invertebrates, and are VERY sensitive.[-2 stars] 10/12/2023: after newfound research, wood softens as you boil longer. Soft wood or mulch does not affect shrimp or fish, but it does look undesirable. If you don't want this look, I'd suggest boiling only for 10-30minutes to just get rid of undesired pests, pathogens/disease, and hitchhikers that may come on. If it is a larger piece of wood, you can choose to boil and pour water on top of the piece and soak it for 10minutes then top off with cool water to avoid softness and to sink it.

I ordered the 5 medium-small sized pieces of Mopani driftwood. It's good, I'm happy with it but the soaking instructions aren't clear. Here's what I did in order to release all tannins and get the wood to sink within hours, same day. Rinse off in tap water, then boil on high for total 5-6 hours. Change the water 2-3 times in the process and make sure to keep topping off the water since it evaporates quick. Don't let all the water disappear or you'll burn the wood. You want a rolling boil nearly the entire time other than top offs and water changes. Water will turn dark, dark brown, those are tannins, normal. Stir and flip pieces occasionally. After boiling, place it in cold water, I used ice but you don't have to, and let it soak for another couple hours. No need for soda/salt at any point. I was able to open my package, boil, soak and place the driftwood in my aquarium same day and it did not darken the water in my tank or float up.

I ordered a 5 pack of smaller pieces of Mopani wood for the aquarium. Very well packaged, but there were only 4 pieces. I reached out to the email included in the package and they refunded me for 2 of the pieces. I got one larger piece at another store, and together think these will look nice. I boiled the pieces twice and soaked them for a few days to release tannins. All except one piece are no longer floating and interesting shapes. 5 stars for the good customer service.