Mold on New Driftwood

[PrawnShop]

I bought a piece of driftwood from a lfs. I have no idea what kind of wood it is, but it's pretty much the root ball of a small tree and still has a number of the roots sticking out to the side.

Since it's quite an odd shape I was only able to boil certain sides, and now that I've submerged it for a few weeks it's starting to grow two distinct types of mold. There's a greenish brown hair-like mold on the submerged areas I wasn't able to boil and a white discoloration mold on the areas of the wood that aren't currently submerged.

It's already to the point where it's not floating any more, and it's pretty thick in the middle as it probably displaces about three gallons of water.

I've heard of using a bleach mixture to tackle this sort of thing or possibly baking the driftwood in the oven. So I'm curious to see what's the best way to tackle the mold issue is.

 

[mommytron]

mine started to develop the same kind of mold after i had put it in the tank and set everything up. i just reach in with a toothbrush (that is dedicated for our tanks) before or during PWC time and scrub it off, then suck it all up with the siphon. it grows back here and there, but i have noticed it is starting to grow back less and less. i was told it would go away within a couple of weeks... well it has been a couple of months and the mold is still kicking. however everytime i scrub it off, less grows back. so hopefully soon it will all be gone!

 

[DragonFish71]

It's normal for DW to grow white fungus-y looking stuff. I always do just like mommytron suggested, use a toothbrush dedicated for you tank cleaning, scrub it and suck it up in the water change. It will eventually stop growing. Also, some fish like to nibble on it which helps stop it from growing back.