# Can anyone id this mess and tell me how to kill it?



## mcsinny99 (Sep 2, 2008)

Hi all, I am having my first algae outbreak rogar-Siand need to know what to do. I have also spotted a tiny worm and then I noticed o bunch of 'em on my driftwood.
Any ID or eradication tips PLEASE!!!

http://s429.photobucket.com/albums/qq20/mcsinny99/help/


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## mcsinny99 (Sep 2, 2008)




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## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

Looks like a collection of fish turds?


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## mcsinny99 (Sep 2, 2008)

orlando said:


> Looks like a collection of fish turds?


That's what I thought, but there are so many and I saw a worm wriggling as he was drifting in the current.


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## frozenbarb (Feb 8, 2007)

Wood Fungus,Fish poop, Rotten bark of wood.

That isn't algae.


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## mcsinny99 (Sep 2, 2008)

frozenbarb said:


> Wood Fungus,Fish poop, Rotten bark of wood.
> 
> That isn't algae.


There is green stuff in 2 of these pictures. It is not moss.


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## Ravenous (Aug 18, 2008)

Any shrimp, mine are poop machines and my driftwood has spots like that on it.


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## mcsinny99 (Sep 2, 2008)

no shrimp 6 ottos 3 clowns
forget the poop looking stuff how do i kill the white spiderweb looking stuff and the green algae looking stuff


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

How long has this tank been set up and did you boil the driftwood before sinking it? If this is a newly set up tank, less than two months, then what you are seeing may be normal. You may just have some diatoms, the brown powder looking stuff on DW.

White stringy stuff could be fungus from the driftwood which usually goes awy with time. I must admit though that I really didn't notice it in any of the pics.

The worms are definitely fish poop.


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## mcsinny99 (Sep 2, 2008)

I have figured out the worm thing. Yes there is fish poop in the pics. Does it explain the worms I described-NO.
They are harmless worms and one or more (have only seen one) got loose from the substrate. Thanks for the tip on the driftwood. No it wasn't boiled, too big. I am seeing algae in spots on the glass and driftwood, but I am hoping EI proves here and it does not take off. On the bright side plants are growing like mad. Just don't want the algae war to get out of control. Need some tips on how to kill the lines in the pics of that type of algae. Yes I know there are fish turds. Congrats to all who figured it out. There is a harmless substrate worm involved, I will try to get a good pic, but my camera does suck.
Any tips on killing the driftwood algae yet(other than waiting?)

J


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

Hey Mc, sorry about the shameless poke, just playin. :sorry: 

Anyway, as far as the worms they will probably get eaten by your fish. I have read that some people get whole colonies of worms in their substrate but that's when they are feeding live food and several get away from hungry mouths. The only thing you do have to worry about is if you start to see signs of a parasite on your fish. There are anchor worms that will attach to your fish and you will see a rigid stick looking thing with two barbels on the end of it hanging from your fish. Just keep an eye out for that but it should be fine. You might want to do a google image search and see if you can identify the worm, in case your camera isn't good enough to get it(like mine).

As far as the algae I don't really see a big problem there. Are you talking about the greenish stuff that is in the grooves of the driftwood? If that's it then I wouldn't call that a problem, at least not right now. On the second pic I think I see a green string in the upper right hand corner of pic. Is this what you are talking about? Remember that as all natural environments there will always be a mixture of organisms in the tank. Unless you see that algae go crazy and start covering plants then it is a natural thing to have at least some in there, IMO. I don't think that very many people with a planted tank can say that they are absolutely algae free.

As far as the DW stuff it is a fungus and some otos will eat it. You can try scraping it off but I think that time is the best answer. Maybe shrimp will eat it, IDK.


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## Sunstar (Sep 17, 2008)

for large driftwood...I bake it in the oven for a few hours ayt about 250


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