slimy white stuff on driftwood

[mrsshoup]

I bought a lg piece of driftwood from my LFS.

I boiled it over the course of 3 days for several hours at a time, changing the water between each boil.
I then soaked it for another 3 weeks.

Here's the thing. I put it in my new tank (75gal) and within a few days it started "growing" this white slimy stuff... really it's more of an opaque white slimy stuff.

At the same time I put in this new driftwood, I put in a piece from an existing, established tank. Now that piece has started "growing" this stuff too (which it never did in the old tank).

What is it?
How do I get rid of it?
Do I need to get rid of it?
Will it harm/disrupt the fishless cycling of my new tank? (Currently cycling by adding pure ammonia)
If I don't get rid of it, will it harm the fish when I add them?

It's kind of pretty, but its starting to spread a bit to the substrate.

Thanks,
Marty

PS- I'll try and get a pic.

 

[Star_Rider]

sounds like it could be a natural fungus. it should run the course and go away.

 

[Mokomon]

I had that happen to a piece of Grapewood that I WAS going to use
It was jelly-like

I ditched it for Mopani

 

[irishspy]

The piece of mopani wood I have in my tank developed the same thing -- it's a fungus. Eventually it will die and go away, though I note it vanished really quickly after I added a few japonica shrimp to the tank. :idea:

 

[DAVIDFBT]

:iagree: The fungus will go away on its own, don't worry. If you want it gone now, get some amano shrimp and they'll clean it up for you.

 

[mrsshoup]

Thanks. If it won't hurt anything, I'll just let it run its course.

Marty

 

[jm1212]

it can get pretty unsightly though, so dont be afraid to scrape it off if you need too.

 

[marinkafuschia]

yeah the same thing happened to me when I put a new piece in and a piece from an existing tank. like everyone is saying it will just run its course! adding some aquarium salt directly on the wood help to speed up the process I have noticed.

 

[Notophthalmus]

I'll throw in another "it'll run its course". What happens is that when you put the relatively sterile wood in the water, aquatic fungus spores and bacteria settle on it and start growing. The fungi can grow faster and get an initial advantage, but after a while the bacteria catch up and start putting off enough fungicides to kill the fungus.