Growth on driftwood causing water problems?

Hi,

I have had a betta housed in my 3g. Eclipse tank at my office for a couple years now. Everything has been fine up until recently...

A month or two ago, I purchased a small piece of aquarium driftwood from my LFS to add to the decor of the tank. Within a week or so, I noticed a strange white growth on the wood. I scraped it off, but it keeps coming back stronger. Some of the growth is almost lichen-like in appearance, and some of it is more spongy looking. I have used driftwood in nearly ALL of my freshwater tanks, for years and years and this has never happened.

Now, I know that strange things grow in tanks sometimes, and I didn't think it would be much of a problem, but today I've noticed that the water is starting to smell pretty strongly of rotten eggs, which has also never happened before.

I am going to totally clean out the tank this afternoon, and toss the driftwood, but I was wondering if anyone else had any ideas about why this may have happened? Like I said, I've used driftwood many times in the past with no problems. The only thing I didn't do this time, was boil the driftwood, which I have always done in the past. Could this have been the culprit?

Thanks in Advance~

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. The only water movement in the tank is from the bio-wheel filter return. I didn't put an airstone in, as I know most bettas prefer a more calm tank. I used to have a sand substrate in the tank, but I removed it because I was worried about the growth of anerobic bacteria. It's been regular gravel for a while now...I could add a small airstone if you think it would help, I don't know how my betta would react, as he's never had one before!

Well, I think I will take the wood out for now, and then boil it. Then maybe I will put it in a bucket for a couple weeks and see if any of the growth returns...if not, I'll try putting it in a different spot...though there is not much room to work with in a 3 gallon tank! But I'll give it a try! Thank you for your help!