My new cork background is growing.....roots?

Ranger

Ranger

AC Members
Jun 20, 2001
117
2
18
Everett, WA
Help Please. It appears my new cork background is growing.....roots?

Does anyone have any ideas what this is?

I decided to use a cork background inside a new tank like many I’ve read about here. I bought a cork roll 1/8 in. thick x 2ft x 4ft. and siliconed it to the back. Where the cork wasn’t bonded it bubbled from expansion but I think this will add nice contrast when planted.

BUT.. Tonight when I did a water change I noticed the cork background was covered with a growth. It looks like some type of white fibrous root structure. The growth is thickest in those areas that have bubbled and I assume have water on both sides of the cork. It doesn’t look like any type of algae and besides I haven’t been running the lights since there are no plants yet. The picture is a little out of focus but you can get the concept. Can anybody tell me what this might be? Thanks.

Stats: cycling a 45 tall to be a plant tank (no plants yet). It has been running for 4 weeks with a few starter fish and media from a previous tank. No detectable ammonia or nitrite, pH 6.4, kH 30 ppm, CO2 approx. 20 ppm. temp 84F

cork roots5.jpg
 
Last edited:
to me it looks like a fungus of some sorts. are you sure it was aquarium safe?
 
Sorry I cannot help with your question ( I vote some type of fungus too) but why run a tank with CO2 for 4 weeks with no plants? I don't get it. Seems like the water is quite ready for a little planting...
 
I thought it might be a fungus too, but it is very durable and seems to have considerable tensile strength for it's size. Many fungi are mushy or smear when crushed.

The picture it close up because it doesn't show when I zoom out. Sorry I didn’t put a pencil it the pic for perspective but the area shown is approx 6 inches square.

I have it set up without any plants because it is cycling with a new filter, substrate and reactor. The CO2 is DIY (plan to get a cylider)so no need to turn it off and besides I wanted to see what the pH ans CO2 would achieve with the new equipment. I was/am planning to add a lot of plants at once instead of a few gradually to avoid algae problems with 3.7watt/gal plus I wanted to really give thought to the total aquascaping this time. I work in commercial aviation engineering so unfortunately I got laid off again two weeks ago so the whole thing is on hold longer then I planned.

Thanks for all the feed back.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom