Alright, so I need some advice and direction. Hoping y'all could help.
About a year ago I purchased some spider wood for my panther crab breeding project (thread coming in the next couple months, please be patient). Due to the wood being difficult to soak and wanting to try my hand at breeding a different crab first, I let the driftwood sit for almost a year before I'm now picking the project back up.
When I first tried to soak it, the water became tannin and some of the driftwood (most of it actually) developed this slime coating. However, this time I put the wood in the dishwasher and then put it in my aquariums (9 ten gallons) hoping it would be alright. However, tannin still leached and I had to do a couple complete water changes to help fight the tannin.
Long story short, I noticed a bit of a slime-like coating on one of my spider wood, smelled it and another piece, and the slime one had a sort-of bad odor while the non-slime one just smelled like wet wood (how it's ¨supposed¨ to smell). Just went in to do another water change, and the slime is definitely back in at least one aquarium, with the smell being strong this time vs the sort-of of last time.
Does anyone know what this slime-like coating could possibly be? At first I thought it might be anaerobic bacteria so I put an airline in every aquarium, but it didn't work out the way I expected (hypothesis refuted). Now I'm at a loss. I don't want to add any water back in due to not wanting to make it worse, but have no idea as to what I'm dealing with.
So, what could it possibly be and how can I get rid of it?! Please help!
About a year ago I purchased some spider wood for my panther crab breeding project (thread coming in the next couple months, please be patient). Due to the wood being difficult to soak and wanting to try my hand at breeding a different crab first, I let the driftwood sit for almost a year before I'm now picking the project back up.
When I first tried to soak it, the water became tannin and some of the driftwood (most of it actually) developed this slime coating. However, this time I put the wood in the dishwasher and then put it in my aquariums (9 ten gallons) hoping it would be alright. However, tannin still leached and I had to do a couple complete water changes to help fight the tannin.
Long story short, I noticed a bit of a slime-like coating on one of my spider wood, smelled it and another piece, and the slime one had a sort-of bad odor while the non-slime one just smelled like wet wood (how it's ¨supposed¨ to smell). Just went in to do another water change, and the slime is definitely back in at least one aquarium, with the smell being strong this time vs the sort-of of last time.
Does anyone know what this slime-like coating could possibly be? At first I thought it might be anaerobic bacteria so I put an airline in every aquarium, but it didn't work out the way I expected (hypothesis refuted). Now I'm at a loss. I don't want to add any water back in due to not wanting to make it worse, but have no idea as to what I'm dealing with.
So, what could it possibly be and how can I get rid of it?! Please help!
