looks like someone put sawdust in my tank

[sivic]

anybody have problems with driftwood leaving what looks like saw dust in your gravel and getting kicked up by fish?

 

[jaylin]

Are you sure it's saw dust and not ... something more alive than that?

Look really close at that stuff and make sure it's not moving on its own.

 

[sivic]

i looked at it close, its defintely not moving.

I have a clown pleco and i quote

The Clown is a wood eater, so driftwood is a must. It is territorial and will stake a claim to areas at the base of its favorite driftwood or a near by cave. This species creates a lot of waste. Good mechanical filtration and tank cleaning practices are required.

so maybe its coming from the pleco?

 

[wataugachicken]

i think it's likely. i know that royal plecos will shred driftwood into sawdust.

 

[mooman]

Yeah, if you have a pleco, then its poop, not saw dust.

 

[Halo]

If you have a royal, or any panaque pleco, then it's most likely a combo of wood poop and spare wood the fish has shredded off. They do eat wood after all, and they are messy eaters... Just vaccume it up... No biggie

 

[Kasakato]

The brown part where the gravel is? Its most likely algae.

 

[Raskolnikov]

I don't see anything in the photo resembling wood debris, but it looks like you've got a bit of diatom growth (brown streak) on the gravel and a bit on the glass as well.

 

[sivic]

I don't see anything in the photo resembling wood debris, but it looks like you've got a bit of diatom growth (brown streak) on the gravel and a bit on the glass as well.

Well i assure you its some type of very small debree. I gravel vaccumed all that stuff out, if i retook the picture you would only see the black gravel. I know it comes from the wood cause if i move the wood you see all the stuff fall out and cloud up the water.

As far as the diatom growth, i do have alot of that in both of my tanks but that is defintely some free floating debree that can be stirred around by quick movements by the fish and what not.

I try to gravel vac my tank once a week or every two weeks and i still end up with a ton of debree in my water, and thats with an AC500 HOB and a XP2 canister filter in a 55 gallon.

 

[ghinksmon]

Have you tried a different piece of driftwood? I've found some of the stuff sold by cheaper stores, usually mounted to slate, is sometimes too soft / too far decayed already. I buy what is usually labeled as African or Malaysian driftwood. These (especially the African) are often more dense, more decorative, and easier to use. I've received good pieces from drfostersmith.com.