Bubbles from driftwood = Bad?

[H2Ogal]

I've been seeing bubbles whisk upward from the area around my driftwood and was worried it was the sand bed going bad, but all the poking/prodding in the world hasn't uncovered any discolored areas (just various roots and numerous MTS, lol). FYI, the wood sits up on protuberances that act like feet so it's barely even touching the substrate, and the sand is less than 2 in. deep.

Now I'm wondering if the driftwood might be decaying inside and releasing gasses of some kind. There are a few small dimples/holes that always seem to have fungus growing in them, even though the wood's been in the tank for for several months. Tonight I noticed that one hole had a bubble just sitting inside it.

Can decaying wood create gas bubbles? And if so, are they likely to be a dangerous concoction?

 

[Jerzboi]

What kind of wood is it?
I don't think the wood would be decaying after only 7 months

 

[H2Ogal]

The eBay seller is in Alabama, did not know what kind of tree it came from originally. The wood's only been in my tank for 4-5 months ... but it's definitely water-worn as it's very smooth. Could've been in the stream where they found it for ages. I did boil it (a lot) before it went into the tank, for what that's worth.

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Edited to add: No bark or soft spots, but it's not super-hard, even when dry.

 

[Rbishop]

Can't recall seeing wood gas off like that, IME....not saying it can't happen though I would doubt it would be so obvious unless there was some other underlying condition.

Curious, when you do a refill, is the input of water aimed on the wood? Just wondering if that could be the source of bubbles that later collect and come up.

 

[H2Ogal]

Can't recall seeing wood gas off like that, IME....not saying it can't happen though I would doubt it would be so obvious unless there was some other underlying condition.

Curious, when you do a refill, is the input of water aimed on the wood? Just wondering if that could be the source of bubbles that later collect and come up.

I add water pretty gently, but it's not a huge tank and pouring the last of the bucket onto the rocks and gravel (which I do) has certainly created bubbles in my plants. But I see them in the leaves immediately, and they usually are gone within a couple of hours, unlike the mystery bubbles which seem to happen with or without WCs.

Could the wood be rotting from the inside out? The fungus-filled dimples and holes really make me wonder.

Simple solution might just be to find another piece of driftwood and try it in the tank, see if that ends the mystery bubbles.