Fuzz on driftwood

[NStalgia]

Probably should've taken photos before I decided to clean it. So my question is what kind of algae is this and will it disappear by itself if I just keep brushing and syphoning it?
It's kind of a new setup. I decided to reset and clean everything cause it got overrun by ramshorn and the tannins from the guava leaves I used were solidifying into tiny bits of black stuff that made the bottom of the tank looked like it was filled with mud and poop. Couldn't get rid of it all by syphoning so now I boiled everything and reset. I remember I've had this problem before with this same driftwood last year and I think it went away on it's own. I just kept cleaning it. So is this the same stuff? Will it go away on its own? Also I see some of the stuff I've brushed off cling to some yarn I put in as kind of like a spawning mop. Will I need to take it out and clean it too?

 

[Andy Sager]

Might not be algae but a fungus created by the decaying of the wood in the water. No, it won't go away on it's own until the wood is gone. Best suggestion is to continue to siphon it off the wood as it grows or else the whole piece of wood will eventually get that fuzzy look. I would not treat the tank with any medications for this. This is a natural occurrence. You could try and boil the wood to kill off any spores but eventually, without using any kind of sealer, this can come back.

 

[NStalgia]

I've boiled that wood so many times, even bleached it before and I boil everything I put in my tanks even the sand. Guess I'm gonna have to keep scrubbing and hope it goes away.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I had a piece of driftwood with similar fungal growth. Vacuumed out what i could with every water change, every 2 or 3 weeks i removed the wood and treated with boiling water. Took about 4 months but i eventually cleared it up permanently.

 

[NStalgia]

Yeah I wanna take it out and just boil the heck out of it again but I'll just probably brush and clean it off for now because with the way I made my fish rack, it's too much hassle to remove it since it's so big. I miscalculated how much space I'd need above the tank to remove stuff and put stuff in. Just hope the nerites enjoy it.

 

[NStalgia]

And it went away on it's own. Just had to siphon some of it that fell down on the substrate.

 

[Andy Sager]

And it went away on it's own. Just had to siphon some of it that fell down on the substrate.

And that would point towards a fungus more than an algae. Just like a mushroom ( also a fungus) sucks out all the nutrients from the wood it's growing on then dies, you may have experienced the same thing only under water.