short back and sides, please

[Redeyes]

i've just resurrected an old 13g tank i have that's been sitting in the shed for 6 months. i've cleaned and scrubbed everything, and just started cycling it. the trouble i now have is, i have a piece of driftwood in there, which now has a disgusting covering of brown fur all over it! i have no idea what this is, surely it's a bit early for algae? (the tank's been going for about a week).

what on earth should i do with this? i can just throw the wood out, but will it have infected the tank? do i need to empty it all out and start again? or is it something harmless that will go away by itself? or should i just give it a haircut? :p I just don't want to poison the tank right from the start.

BTW, i've filled the tank with mineral water, this actually works out cheaper in a small tank than buying all the tap water treatments. does anyone see a problem with this? (apart from the funny stares at the supermarket when you buy 50L of water in one go!)

[Jakmax]

Oh, sorry redeyes, but I believe mineral water is a no-no. "Other things" are added to the water (salts, minerals) which are not good for the fish. What expensive water treatments are you talking about? A bottle of chlorine/chloramine is only a couple of dollars and will last a long time. That's all you need.

[Redeyes]

ok fair enough. it's just that the water round here is really hard (you should see the inside of my kettle!), and i just figured that the mineral water was better, what with the chlorine/chloramine and everything else. whenever i ask at the shops about water treatments, they always point me to the expensive stuff (guess they must be on commision!).
i'll take another look next time i'm at the shop!

[Jakmax]

We have really hard water, too. I mix half tap water with half distilled water (this lowers the Ph without using chemicals). I always use the same bucket and drew a line to where I fill with distilled, then top it off with tap (this way it's the same "mix" each time). Maybe this is an option for you. Good luck!

[AquariumStarter]

Yeah, I'd stay away from mineral water if at all possible. Distilled or R/O water is best if your tap conditions are unacceptable. There are comercial chemicals that you can use to soften the water a bit, and you could even use peat (which will also lower the pH) if you absolutely had to. Heavy metal detoxifiers will also removes some of the hardness.

Water that is enhanced to taste better to us are always worse for the fish. . .always stay away from it if possible =)

[tel0004]

A lot of the time, you dont need chemicals in your tank. Unless your water company adds Chloramine to your water, you dont need any chemicals. I have a 30 gallon, and I do the water change, then fill up a 5 gallon bucket with water. It sits there for a week, and when I need to do another water change, the water dosent have any chlorine, because it evoraped in about 24 hours. I think this is a lot easier for a small tank, and since room temperature is usually around 75, and so is my aquarium, there is almost never a temperature change when adding water. Just my 2 cents.

[Jakmax]

But if the Ph is to high, letting the water sit out is not going to help. Mixing the tap with distilled water (or using peat as aquariumstarted said) will soften the water without the chemicals.

[Redeyes]

ok thanks guys, i'll try the trick with the half distilled water. i've also looked around some online shops and found some water treatment for £5 a bottle (the last time i asked, the guy at the shop tried to sell me a bottle of stuff for £45!). it's due for a water change, so i'll start adding this. by the time i get fish in there, the mineral water should be just about gone. (and i thought i was being so clever!)

now i've just got to find out what's with that brown fur... :sick:

[daveedka]

It could be brown algea, or just some decaying crust on the wood or both. if the wood is removeable take it out and scrub it with a stiff brush. if not scub it in the tank and do a massive water change. If you are fishless cycling with light and ammonia it won't take long for algea to show up.

How high is your PH really, if its under about 8.2-8.4 you shouldnt need to do anything with it in order to use it.

As far as commercial Ph lowering chemicals avoid them at all cost. they will cause you many many headaches and a lot of wasted money.

There are some people who will adamantly claim you should not use tap water, but their claims usually are a way to justify money they spend. There are very few places that the tap water is not safe for fish to live in. There are far too many regulations governing tap water quality for it to be otherwise. There are specialty cases with delicate inverts, or specialized breeding that may fall out of the norm but for the most part, tap water once dechlorinated, is fine for your fish.
Dave

[biogirl361]

i had that brown fur on one of my driftwoods last summer when i was keeping bluegill. i was just as confused as you are. i am pretty sure it is the wood rotting, and not algae, because there was no algae anywhere else in my tank and i didn't have the fish yet for it to be bits of food or something like that. anyway i gravel vac'd it as well as i could without taking out of of the tank and it eventually went away on its own. pretty gross looking in the mean time though, huh.

[Redeyes]

yeah, gross is right! i've decided to just throw the wood away and get some new stuff, probably easier in the long run. it doesn't look like it's spreading to the rest of the tank, so should be ok.

thanks for the advice everyone!

oh, and daveedka, i'm with you on the Ph chemicals, i've never liked adding any chemicals to the tank unless i absolutely have to. i usually find it's more hassle than it's worth. best to let nature take its course whenever possible, IMO!
PS the Ph in my tapwater is around 7.5, so no worries there, i think.