driftwood fungus? see pic...

hummm, that looks strange, I've never seen it before. Well, if nothing new has been added to the tank...? and is it only on the wood? It could be the wood is starting to rot now, or that your tank lighting is off (too bright/not bright enough) and making it easier for fungus to grow. Is this tank planted? That can also make a difference.

If it's only on the wood: I guess what I would do is pull the wood and give a dip in a bleach mixture, then boil it before de-chlorinating it and returning it to the tank for a second go around. If it comes back at that point I'd ditch the wood for something else.

If it's everywhere: I would assume one or more of my nutrients are off and thus causing an imbalance for fungus to get a toe-hold. I would try limiting the lighting schedule for awhile to see if it helps. More tank info might help make a better plan of 'attack.' =P

Driftwood can be real iffy at times. Different woods will react differently to water. I have all Malaysian driftwood because it naturally sinks and won’t really rot in water, or at least not quickly. It was fairly expensive but worth the extra $$. Often the wood that stores sell isn’t really aquarium appropriate and may be a type of wood that rots easily. I prefer buying the kind that already sinks, much easier to handle. Sounds like the fungus is a product of the wood and your wood is rotting, especially if it is ‘soft’ or dropping a lot of debris. I doubt the screws are the problem unless they aren’t stainless steal, and then it’s more an issues of the metal affecting the water and causing harm to the fish.

To be honest, it sounds like bad wood. I would take the wood back to the store and demand your money back, or a replacement. If it’s supposed to be safe in an aquarium, as you where told, then you shouldn’t be having this problem now, you are owed your money back. I doubt removing the rotting potions and keeping the rest would help, the wood is probably just not the right type for tanks and will continue to rot or fungus. The right types of wood shouldn’t do that. How annoying! I’d be upset too, go get your money back or at least demand store credit for the false advertising!

The wood is rotting. Get it out of your tank. It could be a nightmare for your fish if you don't. Get yourself sandblasted wood which is much better.

If your fish start flashing (like ick), if they bloat (dropsy), have mouth fungus, or they start getting sick for no good reason, it's your wood.


Lissette

I believe that your driftwood is showing signs of rotting also. I can't tell what kind of wood it is, but it may have been a softwood to start with or possibly it never fully dried out in the first place. I've noticed chain stores don't seem to be the best place to look for driftwoods. Luckily I have a lfs that has some open bins with stuff for sale by the pound. Recently I managed to snag two pieces of malaysian driftwood (about 11" x 8") on sale for $8. After boiling and a weeks worth of soaking they have been in my aquarium for about 2 weeks without staining my water.

fugus or rot?

i just got recently a farely large piece of malaysian driftwood from petsolutions. i can't boil it, way to big for any home pot. can't really soak it in bathtub because the water drains out over nite. i've soaking it in a plastic garbage can for two weeks now, changing the water every 3 to 4 days. i've kept the smallest section that's not covered with water out. the other day i notice white fungus on this section. i used a metal brush to scrape the white stuff off and flipped the wood upside down to soak this part. will see if this is also a piece of rootting wood. maybe this happens because it exposed to air and not submerged in water. hope it's not rot, because it's a really nice piece. i'm planning to lay it across my 52 gal flatback hex.

if you are Canadian -- Geosystem has a great selection of Aquarium Driftwood thats already been aged and treated. It won't release Tannins in the water nor rot or anything =)

I'm going to gamble here and say it is fungus which is all too often part of the rotting process. It is hard to tell from the photo though but the way that the wood looks it is not rot itself. Personally I would trash it. It's not worth the risks of what it could do to your tank and it's inhabitants.

Wood for Aquariums...
I am going to agree with most of the people here that there are certain types of wood to avoid and in my personal book, that is basically anything that has a piece of slate attached to it. The reason is these are woods that in general rot pretty quickly. The type of woods that last well in aquariums are few and far between and mostly swamp woods.

The woods sold as Malaysian Driftwood and African Driftwood are both very different from anything else I have seen. They are very dense woods that do not rot easily. I have been using both for some time. I used to have African much more readily available but all of a sudden Malaysian is everywhere. They are both good and totally different. The African stuff, if I am not mistaken is called Mopani (sp?) and it is the root wood. I have seen it sand blasted and "raw". Both are attractive too. The African wood is a mix of light and dark and seems to last much longer then the Malaysian.

As for curing and drying... Huh? I don't see what role either could play. All you are doing is rewetting the wood. Wood + water = rot, no ifs or buts. Some woods are just more resistant to rot. Teak used in old boats is a great example. Curing is the drying of wood. Now, that would mean the sap is "gone" whether it seeped out or the water just left it and is a film in the wood is a good question and what happens when water is re-added is also a valid question. But I really don't see any reason to think drying or curing will prolong the life of the wood in the tank. It might make a difference on the initial water chemistry effects though.

Wood and Disease...
As for Aquabum saying "If your fish start flashing (like ick), if they bloat (dropsy), have mouth fungus, or they start getting sick for no good reason, it's your wood." That's pretty much an old wives tale from my experience - an easy scape goat.

If you were taking wood from one tank to another with out "properly" treating it, I'd say it is definitely a possibility though. Different things cause parasites and such to suddenly emerge from a dormant state and bring a plague on your tank. Take ich for example; if you have a tank at 78F and drop the temp to 76F during a water change - that is the perfect trigger for an outbreak. But the same can be said for plants, other tank decorations and nets just as well as wood. Anything can carry a disease from one tank to another. Sure it is possible to get funky stuff that came out of your wood - but if it doesn't happen immediately it probably has nothing to do with your wood.

Wood can and does change the water chemistry and that could cause an out break as well if it stresses your fish (never seen that happen personally) or provides the perfect environment for some pathogen (more likely). But removing the wood won't help cure it and it would really be a one time effect. And if it has been some time since the wood was put in - it is REALLY doubtful that is the problem.

Many of the pathogens that are fish diseases are present in your tanks just waiting for the ideal conditions to launch their assault. It's just the way it is. Think of it this way, we are surrounded by harmful bacteria but they don't show themselves until the perfect conditions are presented... Same goes in your aquarium.

Preperation and cleaning of wood...
I have put wood in tanks both unboiled and boiled, soaked and unsoaked. (I personally like the coloration tannins add.) I use wood in all my tanks. Anymore I do boil it for at least an hour. I'm not sure what I will do next time I decide I want an XXXL piece though, it's been a while...

One thing I'm sure of is that bleach is not a good idea. Unless you are very thorough in eliminating it - it will cause irreparable harm or death to fish. I do use it to clean other aquarium items but wood is another matter. It absorbs the chlorine for one thing - how do you get rid of it then? It breaks down the wood and continues to break it down until neutralized (causing accelerated rot among other things). Chlorine bleaching is part of paper plant pulp processing (there are newer non-chlorine techniques now but I do not believe they are used in paper making yet) think about the contaminants and poisons that are generated by pulp mills during this process. How many of them come strictly from the reaction with Chlorine I don't know off hand, but I would never use it myself.

"Different things cause parasites and such to suddenly emerge from a dormant state and bring a plague on your tank. Take ich for example; if you have a tank at 78F and drop the temp to 76F during a water change - that is the perfect trigger for an outbreak."

I'm not sure I follow the logic of this . could you elaborate?

are you suggesting the drop in temp of 2 degrees is the trigger? or is it the stress from the drop in temp?

I'm not sure I agree with a 2 degree drop in temp as a trigger for anything other than spawning by some SA species of cichlid.