What is this on my driftwood?

[GallonsOfFun]

The first two weeks I had my driftwood it had a white fungus/gel looking substance covering it. I know this is normal and it's happened to me before with driftwood.

However, I've just come back after being away from 10 days and my driftwood now has a mold looking substance on it. It's green in parts and white in parts. In addition, the part of driftwood that is out of the water clearly has mold on it.

Why did this happen? I left some shrimp hanging in a net in there to rot to keep it cycled (no fish in currently), which I'm assuming is the most likely candidate, although the shrimp isn't touching the wood.

Has this ruined the wood (I would prefer not, it was expensive) and can I get rid of it? It would be difficult to boil it's a very big piece.



Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[bigsea]

That fuzzy white stuff is a fungus that feeds off the glucose in the wood. Snails and shrimp eat it. When it has eaten all the sugar it will go away. Its harmless. Sometimes it can take a while but IT WILL go away on its own


- St Charles Almendras Geraldizo

 

[GallonsOfFun]

That fuzzy white stuff is a fungus that feeds off the glucose in the wood. Snails and shrimp eat it. When it has eaten all the sugar it will go away. Its harmless. Sometimes it can take a while but IT WILL go away on its own


- St Charles Almendras Geraldizo

Are you referring to the stuff above the water or both the white stuff above the water and the green-ish stuff below?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[bigsea]

The white fuzzy stuff. I get it whenever i bring driftwood in that i scavenge for. My mystery snails went effin bonkers for it and my shrimp poked at it.

As for the green stuff i have no idea. Maybe sap?


- St Charles Almendras Geraldizo

 

[KristaButler]

Ooh thanks!!! I just got my first piece and it has the same white fungus.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[bigsea]

Np. I had 3 shrimp and 3 mystery snails that cleared a decent sized piece in a 29gallon in 2 weeks. It got really bad almost looked like it was covered in cotton but it went away. I actually have a picture of the piece. Im not using it anymore
Note it was nowhere near as big as your piece, GallonsofFun



- St Charles Almendras Geraldizo

 

[GallonsOfFun]

So even the greenish stuff is harmless to fish?

Would a pleco clean it up? (On the stocking list anyway)


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Fresh2o]

If you prefer to remove the fungus by hand, since it is quite large you can put it in a bathtub and scrub it with a clean brush followed by a good rinse.
The mold that developed above the water line was probably do to excess moisture (sounds like the lid was closed). Opening the lid for a few days should prevent mold from developing.
After you return it to the tank mold might still grow but much less than the first time around.
Edit: To answer your questions, no the greenish stuff is not harmful. Not sure about the pleco; maybe but I would not rely on a biological control to deal with a temporary situation.

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[GallonsOfFun]

If you prefer to remove the fungus by hand, since it is quite large you can put it in a bathtub and scrub it with a clean brush followed by a good rinse.
The mold that developed above the water line was probably do to excess moisture (sounds like the lid was closed). Opening the lid for a few days should prevent mold from developing.
After you return it to the tank mold might still grow but much less than the first time around.
Edit: To answer your questions, no the greenish stuff is not harmful. Not sure about the pleco; maybe but I would not rely on a biological control to deal with a temporary situation.

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Ok, thank you very much, that was very helpful! I also have anti-fungal medication (for fish), if that would work on it?

As for the pleco, it's going to get added anyway, was just going to add it in the early stages if it would clean this up.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Fresh2o]

Not sure if the anti-fungal would work. It might. Then again, not sure if it would disrupt the development of the BB colonies.
How is the fishless cycle going?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[PoppaRyno]

Seen it before. Try Taking it out, lightly scrub it with a green scratch pad, rinse thoroughly, and replace. Not 100% but this has worked more than not.

Sent from my LGLS991 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[GallonsOfFun]

Not sure if the anti-fungal would work. It might. Then again, not sure if it would disrupt the development of the BB colonies.
How is the fishless cycle going?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

That was my concern, too. I'll try scrubbing it down first. As long as it isn't harmful to fish then I'm really not bothered as it'll go away.

The fishless cycle is going well to my knowledge. A bit complicated as it was previously an established brackish tank, so I had to keep it cycled while slowly lowering salinity, but what made it difficult is that I had to go away for 10 days. I left shrimp in there, in addition to a friend dosing it a few times with ammonia. I say it has gone well to my knowledge as my API ammonia bottles ran out right as I got back and my LFS didn't have them in individually when I went yesterday. So I'll know soon but I would think at least some BB survived.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[GallonsOfFun]

Seen it before. Try Taking it out, lightly scrub it with a green scratch pad, rinse thoroughly, and replace. Not 100% but this has worked more than not.

Sent from my LGLS991 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Thanks! Will give this a try and let you know how it goes.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice