Driftwood woes

[Crowsmuse]

I am not sure if I am in the right forum.
I have had 2 pieces of DW in my large tank for a few months.

Pulled one out because I noticed some white spots on it, and set it in a bucket to treat later.
I noticed a nasty smell, like mothballs emanating from it a few days later and decided to back shelf it for a while.
I moved the other piece to my other tank when I decided I was going to break down that tank.

Today, I noticed a white spot, not ick, because I have seen that before, on the side fin of my gbr, and then I saw this on the driftwood, black fuzz with white spots.

Is it possible that this/these driftwood are carrying disease?

Please see pics, not sure how well they show it.

These are huge, what's the safest thing to do, hydrogen peroxide ? Vinegar?
How can I tell if its safe... Last thing I want to do is kill fish because of crap wood.

 

[Stellah]

Could they be snail eggs that are decaying?

 

[Crowsmuse]

I don't think so, But the tank it came from does have assassin snails in it.

 

[Stellah]

That might be it, if I were you, whatever it is, I'd scrub it with a new-clean sponge and hot water, and bake it at 200 degrees F for 3 hours. That will surely kill whatever it is. Then start the process of soaking again.

 

[wildroseofky]

I used a found piece of wood in my tank and it did the same thing. My fish developed a fungus infection in that tank and died too. I cannot say for sure that the wood was the problem but I did not take any chances. That particular piece of wood went into the garden as an ornament. It smelled really bad when I took it out of the tank and had black and fuzzy white spots on it. I have had the white, clearish stuff on bought driftwood but never the black, smelly stuff. Other wood that I used never smelled like that either. I am more careful now.

 

[Crowsmuse]

The stinky one is gonna get burned for sure.
We sawed the other piece into a bunch of smaller ones, I'm boiling the parts now, then I'm gonna bake them for 3 hours.

Here's hoping.

Any ideas on treating the fish?

So far it's just the female gbr with the fin spot.
And just that fun and just the one spot

 

[Crowsmuse]

Another question.
I have boiled and now baked the wood for 3 hours at 200 degrees.
Is it safe to use now?

 

[Stellah]

I think you will be fine. I had the clear-ish slime on a small piece- I did the same- and I was fine. If you really wanna be sure- put it in a bucket with water from a change for a week and see what happens..

But honestly- I think you're out of the woods.

 

[Crowsmuse]

thank you!

 

[wildroseofky]

I had boiled and baked the piece I used. I even soaked it for a week after boiling and baking. Once it went in the tank it started to get black, slimy spots and white fuzzy spots on it. I wonder if something in the wood reacted with the fish waste. I have used other found wood, making sure it was water birch, and grapevine wood I ordered. None of that did the same thing. I believe I just got the wrong type of wood and my fish paid the price. I cleaned this tank and reset it with grape wood and have had no problems since then.

To treat your fish you could try adding salt to the tank if you have species than can tolerate salt. I would move the fish to a quarantine tank and add 1 tablespoon of salt per ten gallons. I have added up to 2 tablespoons with no problem. I took the added step of buying a fungus cure for my molly and did twice daily baths of it. I just put some of the cure in a bucket, added some warm water (tank temp), and let the fish soak for about 20 minutes at a time. It cured the fish in about a week. I waited two weeks to be sure it was cured before putting her back in the main tank.