# Drift wood problems



## mhamm3650 (Feb 23, 2010)

6 months ago I purchased a medium sized piece of monpani drift wood from www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com. I cut the piece in half and let it soak for a week, changing the water frequently. I placed one piece in my 4 gallon aquarium with a heater, a sponge filter, 2 java ferns and an amazon sword. Within a few days the wood stared to grow very thick white slime. I changed the water frequently and vacuumed the white slime off of the wood. By the next day the white slime had grown back. My Betta didn't seem to mind at all but eventually the water was filled with white slime. I panicked, tore down the aquarium, and completely cleaned it with very hot water. This time around i took out the driftwood, scrubbed it in hot water, boiled it for an hour and then replaced it only to have the white slime return again and again. I cleaned the aquarium again this time bleaching the wood for several days and then soaking it in dechlorinator before returning it to the aquarium. White slime once again filled the aquarium. Desperate, I moved my betta and plants and poured hydrogen peroxide into the tank after reading about how some people on this forum use it to rid their tanks of algae. I let it sit for several days before I rinsed everything with hot water. This time around i converted the tank to a NPT by using a small amount of potting soil under a small grained gravel. i planted my medium sized very health amazon sword in the middle and returned the driftwood.

Guess what? The driftwood is now covered with a white fuzz after sitting for several days. The white fuzz has now spread to my amazon sword.

I have read on a couple of forums that others have had this problem. For most it seems that boiling or bleaching does the trick. I have done both along with other measures and still i have had no luck.

Am I just being dumb? Should I just give up on having the irritating although beautiful piece of driftwood in my tanks? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you![/SIZE]


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## Oscar17 (Mar 3, 2010)

I normally boil my drift wood a few times, about 1 or 2 hours, empty water replace boil again, as much as 3 or 4 times. Depending on how much tanis I want to remove. I did have one piece that got the white fuzz on it and later turned into BGA. Eventually got rid of the piece, but it wasn't a very nice piece anyway.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

The only time I ever had fuzz appear on my driftwood, it was greyish fuzz. Then I moved one of my Bristlenose plecs to the tank and they ate it. Overnight. o.0'

As to whether it was good for them... I couldn't say. They didn't die, at least. But the various Ancistrus spp. are kind of rabid about rasping the surfaces of wood, as well as eating the wood itself - they'd be likely to strip any weird algal growth before it had a chance to bother you. 

So, you might want to try putting it in a pleco tank. Naturally, 4 gals isn't big enough for any pleco, but if you have an underpopulated 20 gal or larger, an Ancistrus specimen could be kept there. If the pleco won't touch something on a piece of driftwood, you know it has to be bad, lol! XD


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## mhamm3650 (Feb 23, 2010)

Thanks guys! 

Like you said my tanks are much to small for any plecos. I have a growing pond snail population. They have quickly taken care of some of my algae problems. Maybe they will help me with this one. 

I am also going to attach some java ferns to the wood. Maybe it will compete with the algae and slow its growth. 

Do you guys think this will work?


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Mostly speculation, but ...

I have heard of problems with drift wood (not just Mopani) growing that white slimy fungus. (no chlorophyl, so it is not algae). And this was even after boiling the wood. I wonder if this is a fungus that is in the _tank_, but most of the time does not find enough to eat to grow big enough to notice. Boiling the wood (and any other treatment) does not do anything to stop the fungus, because it is not originating on or in the wood. 
In my tanks various Loricariads ate it, and eventually the wood quit producing it. I do not know why the fungus quit growing, unless it needs a very specific mineral or something that is used up out of the wood.


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## mhamm3650 (Feb 23, 2010)

I thought it was something from inside the tank as well which is why i washed everything (the tank, rocks, heater, filter) with very hot water. It just kept coming back. If it was inside the tank it would have formed in the tanks without the wood but these tanks are crystal clear. 

Maybe my rams and snails will enjoy it. Or maybe I will just find a different source of driftwood.

Thank you for your help!


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## Dielectric (Oct 7, 2008)

Time is the only cure


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## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

When I first placed my driftwood in the tank it developed this slime. After a few weeks it went away. Did not harm anything, just looked ugly! The slime I had stayed on the wood...it never floated into the water column.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Most fungi live on dead organic matter, such as wood, fallen leaves, fish food, dead fish... 
By cleaning the tank pretty well, and removing the driftwood you have removed just about everything that is large enough to feed the fungi. They are still there, eating microscopic bits of stuff, but with so little food the fungi are not growing large enough or fast enough for you to see them. 

I still have no idea why the gooy one we are discussing shows up sometimes, and not other times, or why it quits growing after the wood has been in the tank for a while. Perhaps that species (or small group of species) are pretty specific to wood, and only grow on recently submerged wood.


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## alpha_betta (Apr 28, 2010)

Just thought I would comment on this, I have not owned a lot of driftwood, only two pieces and I have only experienced this phenomenon once. The pH in my tank was consistently too low, so I removed the driftwood that was in it and set it on a towel next to the tank to dry for several days then I put it in storage. After a few months I moved to a new apartment in a different city and my pH was back up again so I once again put the driftwood in the tank, this time it started growing white fuzz, so I scrubbed it off and put it back in the tank but that did not help so I decided to throw it out and a few weeks later I got a new piece. The second piece never grew any fuzz and has been in my tank for over a year now.

So, maybe the white fuzz is not so much from where the driftwood came from, but how it was dried out? Like if someone collected wet driftwood and dried it in a kiln v.s. it naturally drying on the shore?

No answer from me but just a thought.


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## mhamm3650 (Feb 23, 2010)

I scrubbed the white fuzz off and placed the wood in another aquarium because I needed a slightly lower ph in my 10 gallon german blue ram NPT. Also according Diana Walstad's research plants benefit from the tannins released by the wood. Only small amount of slime is now growing and has killed one of my pond snails!

What do you guys think about a UV sterilizer? I found 2. www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com has a 5w for $75 and Petsmart.com has a 9w for $50. The price difference concerns me. Does anybody know anything about these?


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I have 2 of the Pet Smart ones, a big one and a little one. I do not run them all the time, but they have their uses. 

Probably won't do much for the white slime. UV sterilizer works by killing things that are drifting in the water. 

Not much kills pond snails, perhaps you are on to something!


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## JakeJ (Apr 14, 2010)

I have the same problem. I got driftwood, put it in my tank (it had already been treated) and after about 2-3 weeks one of the pieces has this whitish slime on it. My fish don't care and whenever I clean in it comes back.


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

The white stuff is simply a fungus that feeds off of bacteria that leeches out of the driftwood. It is 100% harmless to your fish and your tank. Normally it goes away within a month. You can scrape it off, but boiling usually seems to just reset the process. I've seen my clown loaches eat it, and i assume other algae eaters might. Just leave it be, and it'll go away on it's own.


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

And btw, the uv filter will probably do nothing for you, except kill off any bacteria that the driftwood brings in and releases. I have used the uv sterilizer from petsmart that you're talking about and it works great for things like green water and making the water crystal clear. The price is just a statement of the quality of the plastic, i've had no problems with it in over 6 months of varied use.


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