I picked up a piece of the mopani wood from drfostersmith with a few other things when I bought the setup for my new 10g freshwater setup. I'm currently doing fish-in cycling (i know, shame on me) with 2 White Cloud Mountain Minnows. Also in the tank are about 10 strands of some reddish green Rotala (i forget the exact name) and a single banana plant. I keep the temp @ 75, the ph is 7.2 and I'm at work right now so I don't remember the recent ammonia/nitrite/nitrate numbers, although the cycle is doing its thing and I'm keeping it in the best shape I can with frequent water changes.
The tank has been setup for about a week. Now... after all the explaining here is my problem. Everything is acclimating very well... plants already look like they are growing etc. The only problem I have is my driftwood is growing patches of a white/colorless fluffy fungus looking substance. My faucet has a special hot water knob that puts out 190 degree water instantly, so when I first got the wood I soaked it in a pot of that water overnight, no boiling. A few days later the fungus appeared.
When I saw that I took the wood out and scrubbed as much of the fungus off with just hot water and my bare hands. Then I boiled the wood on the stove for 2 hours until it was almost so brown I couldn't see the wood in the pot anymore. I then emptied the water, put fresh water in, flipped the wood over for good coverage, and reboiled for another 2 hours. The water didn't get as brown that time. I then let the wood air dry for almost 24 hours before I put it back in the tank. 24 hours later I see the fungus forming again.
Did I do something wrong? Should I have boiled it longer? Is there something wrong with the wood? Will this hurt my fish/cycling process? Or was it perhaps caused by the cycle in the first place? Any help or advice would be greatly appretiated.
The tank has been setup for about a week. Now... after all the explaining here is my problem. Everything is acclimating very well... plants already look like they are growing etc. The only problem I have is my driftwood is growing patches of a white/colorless fluffy fungus looking substance. My faucet has a special hot water knob that puts out 190 degree water instantly, so when I first got the wood I soaked it in a pot of that water overnight, no boiling. A few days later the fungus appeared.
When I saw that I took the wood out and scrubbed as much of the fungus off with just hot water and my bare hands. Then I boiled the wood on the stove for 2 hours until it was almost so brown I couldn't see the wood in the pot anymore. I then emptied the water, put fresh water in, flipped the wood over for good coverage, and reboiled for another 2 hours. The water didn't get as brown that time. I then let the wood air dry for almost 24 hours before I put it back in the tank. 24 hours later I see the fungus forming again.
Did I do something wrong? Should I have boiled it longer? Is there something wrong with the wood? Will this hurt my fish/cycling process? Or was it perhaps caused by the cycle in the first place? Any help or advice would be greatly appretiated.