Frustrated with Fungus

[Madame_X]

I've been fighting a fungus that started growing on my driftwood shortly after I started my planted tank. The wood was too big to boil the entire thing at once so I did it in sections. I thought I had gotten it all but apparently, I did not.

I did a search on google and found that most people said a pleco would eat it and keep it under control. I got a bristlenose pleco and she doesn't seem to touch it. Its gotten to the point where the stuff is everywhere--on the plants, on the glass and all over the driftwood. I vacuum it with a HOT Magnum gravel vac every other day and it just grows back.

I bought a bigger pot that I think I can fit the wood into but I'm concerned that if I take it out to boil it, my PH might jump. I don't want to use chemicals to keep my PH down (the wood has been doing a good job).

How long can the driftwood be out of the tank before my PH starts to creep up? I don't know how else to get rid of this fungus!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Guest]

I've been fighting a fungus that started growing on my driftwood shortly after I started my planted tank.

Please describe the "fungus". A pic would be even better. Since it is now growing on basically everything, I wonder if it's not an algae of some sort. Fungus usually doesn't grow on the glass either, so I would really like to see the stuff to get a better idea of what it is.

 

[Madame_X]

Its kinda white/gray... fuzzy. Grows into long strands if I don't keep sucking it up with the vacuum.

Here's a pic (not the greatest):

http://www.geekchik.com/images/fungus.jpg

Its to the left of the fish, in the middle of the driftwood.

Thanks for the help!

 

[vega]

You can try to soak the wood in deluted bleach (approx 15 ml per 20L ) solution for 20 minutes the resoak the wood in water that add with dechorine for few hours. as for plant covered with algea you can do the same but only for 2-3 minutes in deluted bleach.

 

[Guest]

You can try to soak the wood in deluted bleach

Not recomended by me. Bleach can soak into the wood so much that it can never be neutralized, or at least that's everything Ive heard. Never done it myself.

OK, it was really hard to see in the pic.

I have had a kind of Algae that is grey/white (tiny hint of green). Mine was called staghorn algae grows in strands with many "branches" really stuck hard to plants and wood. Quite a mess for a while. Once I got my co2 levels up, and fertilized properly, it went away.

Really hard to tell but that might be what you have.

I wish I could help more, but that's all I've got.

 

[Madame_X]

Thanks for the input. I looked up some pictures of staghorn algae and it doesn't look quite right. This is a lot more "fuzzy" for lack of a better word.

I've done a couple of things to help and they seem to be working. I cut back on the food that goes into the tank, which has helped considerably. My fussy eating rams are now hungry enough to eat most of the food before it settles to the bottom. They still pick at the bottom of the tank but they seem to have figured out they'd better get what they can while its floating. This has also prompted my pleco to start cleaning the glass again, which has helped. Also, there is less food for the fungus to feed off.

If I can take out the driftwood and boil it again, I might be able to solve this problem for good. Can anyone tell me how long it can safely be out of the water? My KH in the tank is around 5-6 with my mix of 30% RO water. I'm worried that my PH would go up while the wood is out of the water.