flaking driftwood

[Da Squid]

I finally hooked up my T5 lights to the tank! Its been cycling for 17 days now (still no nitrites) in the dark.
Post illumination I notice now that my drift wood has little flakes stuck all over it. Almost like peeling skin after a sun burn. Its also starting to get covered in a ugly gray almost mold looking substance that I'm guessing is BBA. Not sure how algae could exist yet...the only thing i've added to the water thusfar were some boiled rocks, driftwood, Prime, and ammonia. The slime comes off easily by using my fingers... but what about all the flakes? Should I take the wood out and scrub it down?
I do have a bottle of Excel, but I'm afraid to use it yet as it could screw up my cycle.
Any tips would be appreciated. I'm hoping to receive one of Fort's plant packages in the mail next week to have some living things in there that I actually approve of.

 

[HN1]

What type of wood is it? Any chance of a pic? Some wood doesn't do well submerged. A scrubbing can't hurt. Make sure any bark is gone.

The ugly gray stuff very well may be a fungus that will go away on it's own. It's pretty common in cycling systems.

 

[Da Squid]

Sure. Here is a pic before I added the water. Its the tall darker piece on the right that is flaking and holding the majority of the algae/mold. Its fuzzy and wafts with the water current. I notice it growing in much shorter clumps on my smaller pieces of driftwood, but on the tall piece its in tufts that are almost an inch long.
I bought the pieces at a LFS and they were screwed into slate already so I assumed they were kosher.

 

[HN1]

That looks like it should be ok. I'd scrub it and leave it in there to soak while it cycles. The fuzz should go away as your tank cycles through.

 

[BigMike75]

I am glad you ask this question. I am in the middle of a cycle for my 120 and am getting the same fuzzy stuff on my driftwood. I was going to wash them and put them back in.

 

[Da Squid]

Wow, thats great news! I was convinced I had BBA. I've never heard of this cycling fungus though. I'll have to read up on this. I'm interested to know now what it's made up of/feeding off of... the high ammonia levels?

 

[HN1]

I'll have to hunt for the write up... it's been awhile and I've got long term short term memory loss. I believe it is ammonia that feeds the growth which is why once cycled, it fades out.

 

[underdog5004]

I had the same stuff on some bowl rock in my 29g tank. It looked like white blobs that swayed easily. It centered over the lichen that was still on the rock, but I wasn't too worried, since my fish ate it and it eventually disappeared.

 

[DragonFish71]

It's pretty normal to get the fuzzy white stuff growing on wood. My otocinclus, pleco and cory's make quick work of it tho. They love that stuff. So do mystery snails. If these aren't the types of critters you're going for, don't worry, it will go away after your tank finishes cycling.

 

[Da Squid]

Thanks for the help! Thats a relief. I was dreading an algae war so early on in my tank experience. My tank is cycling much slower than the guides I've read suggest so it'll probably be a while before I can add fish. The black fuzzy stuff seems to be growing and spreading daily, so I think I'll take the wood out and give it good scrub before it starts resembling a dead ferret or something. Hopefully I can shake off whatever the flake stuff is that is coming off.

 

[Sicklid]

No, that is just a light fungus, it always grows on wood, especially that kind... It will go away...

And you will KNOW when you have BBA, trust me...