hovmoller Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 This is a follow up to a previous post.. I now managed to get it on video, youtube link below: (sorry a bit long but if you fast forward it gets pretty crazy) Has anyone seen this before? / knows what it is? It happens at every waterchange when I am about half way on the refill.. like clockwork.. "Smoke" then clumps together and sticks to everything.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 Thats pretty cool. Do you take out the driftwood or leave it in? My guess is a chemical reaction of sorts. http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/vents/ ... omod.html# Click on "white smoker" if it doesn't take u directly to it. This is probably way off but may get Ideas going. My guess is something in your water is (maybe from pipes) goes into ur tank and reacts with something in the wood. You could try boiling the wood as the heat speeds up reactions and my guess is there are less reactive materials in the water than in the wood therefor the stuff in the water gets used up before the stuff in the wood (causing it to happen again). HTH :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 Wow. That is pretty strange. heat speeds up reactions Somebody has been listening in chem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 Nope. Year 10 science for me! Screw Chem. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted September 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 Thanks Dennis.. Yeah somehow I don't think it's a mid oceanic ridge white smoker but it's a nice parallel.. I soaked & boiled the wood before using it and the funny thing is that I have now had it in there for about a year and it has only just started doing it recently.. Someone on here suggested a fungus living in the wood that would then be triggered to "spore" at waterchange.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 Possibly. You would have to pressure cook it or something... Raise the temp above 121*C without burning it to kill the spores though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 It's haunted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cessna driver Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 It's haunted. That's what I was thinking, a poltergeist. Or some new type of under water spider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 Nope. Year 10 science for me! Screw Chem. :lol: I'm doing level two. Hate it :lol: Alistair B recently treated his tank for fungused driftwood. I wonder if i helped :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 I'm doing level two. Hate it :lol: Alistair B recently treated his tank for fungused driftwood. I wonder if i helped :roll: why did you take chem if you hate it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 I suspect some rogue fish are smoking behind the driftwood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 I suspect some rogue fish are smoking behind the driftwood! Agreed... Most likely a smoked salmon but possibly an eel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Dan Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 I have come across this once before on a new piece of wood (all the others are well over 15 years old). If it is a fungus you will be able to see the 'smoke/pores' release into the water when you rub your fingers over it underwater. If so you need to remove the wood and leave it in the sun for a few hours get it really hot in the sun and turn it. Then boil it on your stove for at least 10 minutes - make sure it is fully submerged. Boil longer if your other half is out In my case it was a symptom of poor water changes allowing a build up of the fungus and originated from the newly introduced wood. Another option is if the wood is brand new (from a shop) it may have some chemicals or dust etc in it, but that would have been removed on your initial boil when you got it home. If it has been in there a while and just started doing it, then that points to fungus. Do you have any wood grazers? ie bristlenose plecs? Do they avoid that wood and graze on the others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted September 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2010 Thanks Disco Dan.. The wood is not new.. has been in there for a year and has only recently started doing it. Plecos seem not to care which piece of wood they are sucking on. Removing it and killing any fungus is not possible since it is mounted on a ceramic tile that is placed UNDER the clay plant substrate (imagine the mess that would make!!) I would like to think that it can not be poor water quality either. I do 50% WC every 2 weeks and have 150% filtration (according to aqadvisor) It really seem very harmless it's just anoying that the tank looks like the haunted mansion after every water change. I am just really curious to what exactly causes this.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 any closer to an id on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 How do you boil the water to 121 deg C when water boils at 100deg C? Better stick to the Science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Easy you add salt, salt raises the boiling temperature and lowers the freezing temperature of water :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 yes adding salt or sugar will increase the boiling point but didn't think it would raise it by almost 25% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Water will begin to boil at 100C but if the heat is continued to be increased the water temp will increase also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 interesting i have to autoclave my saltwater for the phyto plankton to ensure it is sterilized properly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Water will begin to boil at 100C but if the heat is continued to be increased the water temp will increase also. Pure water can not be heated over 100deg unless it is done under pressures above 1 atmosphere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Autoclaves use steam which can be superheated. The worst burn with steam is from the bit you can't see before it can be seen as steam, which is actually hot water droplets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtiskaw Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Can you get a sample and have a look at it through a microscope? Try a local high school or Auckland Uni's bio dept if you don't have access to a scope. Might be a paper in it for some aspiring postgrad. I did some googling, but all I found was that thread on MFK, and they didn't know either :dunno: Get a priest in to exorcise your tank. That ectoplasm's bound to be attracting bad ju-ju! :evil: :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted October 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Wow someone dug out this old thread.. No, I never came any closer to an explanation to this.. even with 9400 views on youtube, no one could offer any real explanation.. plenty of jokes though :slfg: But I can report that it no longer happens when I do waterchanges.. I suspect whatever fungus/bacteria or other organism that was causing this has now been outcompeted by a nice red/brownish algae/bacteria that the wood is now covered in.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted October 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 How do you boil the water to 121 deg C when water boils at 100deg C? Better stick to the Science. He did say "pressure cook" it... where you can easily reach 121 deg C. It is common practise in science to sterilise at 121 deg C for 5 min to be sure to kill spores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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