Driftwood growing fur?
- Thread starter erika_d
- Start date
It is a fungus feeding on something in the wood. It will go away once the food is gone. It will hurt nothing and some fish will eat it.
I think that when the wood is boiled or otherwise "treated" it kills the enzymes in the wood which prevent fungus and bacteria and whatever else might invade wood. So some sort of fungal bloom on "new" driftwood is very common. I think that the enzymes somehow regenerate as it never lasts and won't occur again unless you do something to the wood, such as boil it or bleach it.
Its semi-transparent? Are you sure it isn't beard algae? If it is, SAE's will take care of that with no problem =)
it's probably a fungus. all wood will deteriorate some slower than others.
it is part of the cycle for the wood and usually no harm and will go away on it's own.
bleaching or boiling will only prolong the cycle as each time the fungus will come back.
btw bleaching is not all that bad..as chlorine will break down or simply add a dechlorinator to the wood.
bleaching and boiling , soaking etc are usually done to remove possible harmful things on the wood. or to remove tannins.(natures defense mechanism for bugs)
it is part of the cycle for the wood and usually no harm and will go away on it's own.
bleaching or boiling will only prolong the cycle as each time the fungus will come back.
btw bleaching is not all that bad..as chlorine will break down or simply add a dechlorinator to the wood.
bleaching and boiling , soaking etc are usually done to remove possible harmful things on the wood. or to remove tannins.(natures defense mechanism for bugs)
I have no idea what it is, but I had the same stuff. I had a piece of mopani wood that kept growing this weird semi-transparent, whitish fuzz. It stayed around for a couple months, and I'd clean it off pretty much every week. Now it's finally gone!
What makes the fungus go away is competition from bacteria, which take a little time to become established. Every time you boil or disinfect the wood, you kill off all those bacteria, and the process starts over. So just leave the piece alone and the fungus will eventually disappear.
Great-I'm leaving it alone-I was afriad it would grow and consume my whole tank but if it's going to go away on it's own, I'll just leave it.
I bought it at a [et store and it came with a tag saying it was treated, etc. and safe for aquarium use.
I bought it at a [et store and it came with a tag saying it was treated, etc. and safe for aquarium use.
