Lady-Lene Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 Hi all, All is going well with my new aquarium and I'm so enjoying them .... until some sort of fungus or algae started growing on my piece of driftwood. (see photo). Its kind of grey in colour and slimy feeling. It only grows on the driftwood so I figured this was the culprit so ......... I tried boiling it in water, then I tried boiling it in Baking Soda, then I tried boiling it in salty water. All to no avail. Then as a last resort I tried Algae-Fix but that hasn't helped either. Time for a new piece of driftwood? What is it exactly and how do I get rid of it? Your help would be much appreciated as it grows very fast and it takes more work than the fish! http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/Albu ... _=75412825 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 your wood looks fine, I would suggest upping the water flow to that area for a start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatito Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 Lol, i couldn't see anything at first - is it that grayish fuzz or am i going senile at the ripe age of 21??? :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 Is it that grey fuzz? Looks like the fuzz that grows on left over flakes. How long have you had the wood in the tank for and if not for long where did you get it from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 It is hard to tell from the pic but I too wondered about uneaten food going fungussed but it does appear to be growing on the wood and uneaten food would tend to drop to the bottom, not sit on top of a piece of driftwood. You aren't using pH Up or Down are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady-Lene Posted January 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 Yep - its that greyish fuzz growing on the log. It doesn't show up very well in the photos I'm afraid but looks nasty when viewing in person. (The flakes were only present because I had just fed them - they don't usually leave any leftovers). Its like a fungus and its definately growing on the log. It does not appear anywhere else in the tank and grows very fast. (I just cleaned the log 2 days ago). Its very difficult to get off and takes much scrubbing. I got the log from the coast between Taumaranui and Hamilton (now age is showing coz I can't remember the name of the place) :oops: I boiled it in my large soup pot first and it has been in there for a couple of months with no problems until about two weeks ago. The only thing different I added to the tank during that time was the moss in front of it which I have taken most of out and just left couple of little pieces. Would it help if I tried to get a closer photo? Oh .... and no I'm not using PH up or down. The levels are very stable. I wondered if I am leaving the lights on too long? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 It is probably just nature taking its course and slowly decaying the wood via this method Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatito Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 Could it be that the log is decomposing and this is providing the "food" for the fuzz? Kind of like rotting flake or other matter gets the mould/fuzz? I'm not sure, but thought i'd put the idea forward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady-Lene Posted January 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 Managed a closer photo. http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/Albu ... _=75412825 So you think I should get another piece of wood maybe? Its only been in there bout 2 and a half months. I thought they would last longer than that. Do you have any idea how many hours I spent dragging my poor old hubby along the beach looking for that piece :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 when i sunk a few fresh pieces of driftwood i had the greyish fuzzy slime coat for a few weeks, it looked like in your pic but to a slightly lesser degree. mine went away by itself eventually, i dunno exactly what it was but the fish didnt seem effected by it. if you really like that piece of wood just wait it out, if its the same thing i had it should go away in a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 The bio teacher who lives here on the school site by us is away at the moment but if it hasn't gone like Sharn suggests it might in a couple of weeks post something more about it and I'll ask him. He might know as he has had fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 may be the wood was not matured .and was partially living still .and if not dead it will rot .did it sink well ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo1 Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 I have noticed this happens alot with wood from the beach even though the wood had been soaked for months - for this reason we started buying malaysian hardwood (available at LFS) and the problem disappeared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 Maybe the wood brought the algae in, or perhaps it's always there, but normally has nowhere to grow? Perhaps there is something in the wood that feeds that algae (such as minerals). If the wood was driftwood, you've got to assume that the 'whatever' can survive salt water. Perhaps a basic solution like sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) would remove it, or at least remove it from the surface of the wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady-Lene Posted January 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 Snookie - the wood was average weight when I got it. Not very light like some but not realy heavy either. It did not sink by itself and I had to weight it down for a number of weeks before it was heavy enough to stay down by itself. Thanks 'adodge' I'll keep that in mind. Good point Robert! [if the wood was driftwood, you've got to assume that the 'whatever' can survive salt water.] Would a solution sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) be harmful to the fish if any residue was left in the log and I placed it back in the tank? The fish don't seem to be affected by it at all and my PH etc is all stable so doesn't appear to be affecting the balance. I'll give it a bit longer and see what happens. If I don't win then its off to buy the malaysian hardwood as Jo suggested! A great big thank you !!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Lady-Lene, NaOH is caustic (thus "caustic soda") but it you soak the wood in the NaOH to kill/remove the 'whatever' then soak it for a while in water any excess NaOH should be removed. Even if some gets absorbed into the wood and is released over time, if you can't detect a change in teh pH of your tank then there is no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplecatfish Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 It looks like a fungus mycelium to me as opposed to algae because it's grey, not green. If that's the case then the fungus threads will be inside the drift wood so any scrubbing etc won't actually remove it and it'll just grow again. You could try a bath of something like furan2. PM me if you'd like to try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 I had that on my wood when I put it in the tank, the wood was rotting at the time, and I assumed this fungus was just feeding off the wood. It went away after a few weeks, although the decomposing wood was suspected of causing other problems and was removed months later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady-Lene Posted January 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Yep - I agree with the whole 'fungus' thing. I've now taken the wood out and decided to get some from my LFS that hopefully won't rot. The fish are loving the extra room. Thanks heaps for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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