Fuzzy Driftwood

[earwicker7]

I recently added a Queen Gold Nugget Plecostamus to my tank. Since they like to munch on driftwood, I added a nice piece to the tank. My only problem is that I'm getting a fuzzy, white, cotton-like growth on it. I'm sure it's algae of some sort, and I've tried a few methods to get rid of it. When I do get rid of it, it usually comes back in a few days, and it's really ugly. The first thing I tried was soaking the driftwood in water with a small amount of bleach added. I soaked it overnight it a 2-1/2 gallon bucket with a small amount of chlorine bleach added to tap water, then ran water over it until the bleach smell disappeared, added enough de-chlorinator for 10 gallons just to be sure it got all of the bleach, let it soak in this water for a couple of hours, then let it air dry. This got rid of the growth, but it came back in a few days. Next I purchased a HOT Magnum Canister Filter to use as a water polisher, as I figured there might be some free floating algae that was attaching itself to the driftwood--I'm thinking this because some of the growth has spread to areas of the driftwood that shouldn't be getting much light. The only problem is that since my tank is small, the HOT creates a very strong current, which bounces my gobys around like pinballs, so I can only use it in short bursts of about 10-30 minutes instead of running it full time. I'm thinking of getting a timer for the light as right now I turn it on when I wake up at 7am and turn it off around 10pm when I go to bed; I'm thinking about setting the timer to turn on at 10am and turn off at 8pm as this might lower algae growth. I'm also thinking about turning the lights off completely for about three days before this as this would hopefully kill off any free floating algae. Has anyone had a similar problem, and if so, were you able to fix it?

 

[savga]

If it is a small piece of driftwood, you might try boiling it. The heat can penitrate and kill stuff deeper into the wood than bleach can.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

It is probably a fungus, as opposed to an algae. It should go away with time.

 

[earwicker7]

I just got off the phone with the store that I bought the driftwood from. He said that bleaching the wood was a bad idea, that I was lucky it didn't kill the fish--I didn't mention that I had nuked it with dechlorinator, so I don't know if that would have made a difference. From what he said, the bleach can soak into the wood and later be released. I would think that the dechlorinator would also soak into the wood and therefor nullify the bleach, but I'm not taking any chances with a fish that costs as much as a Queen Gold Nugget. Anyway, he said that what was coming out was natural; I can't remember what the exact term he used was, but I think it was lichen. He said that most driftwood was "seeded" with this stuff, that it is harmless and the Queen Gold Nugget would love to eat it. He does, however, agree that it is very ugly. He told me to try scraping it off with a wire brush; if it comes back, he said to try soaking it overnight in a solution of five gallons of water with a handful of non-iodized rocksalt.

 

[FishingMouse]

Let us know if either method works.....it showed up on my driftwood too, it made a couple of really nice pieces really awful looking.

 

[librarygirl]

This is normal with new driftwood; I've gone through it many times. It's unsightly, but not harmful. It's one of those things that has to run it's course. If it really bothers you take the wood out and spritz it with some diluted hydrogen peroxide and wipe the stuff off with a paper towel. It'll likely come back though, as I said it's just one of those things that has to burn itself out.