# Unidentifiable Driftwood Growth



## mbp521 (Sep 9, 2009)

Hi all, I'm new to the forum but I have been in the hobby for a few years now. I recently built and set up my pride and joy, a 250 gallon fresh water community tank. It is established and has been running well for about 5 months. Recently I noticed a growth of someting (algae or fungus) growing rather rapidly on the piece of Malaysian driftwood that I have as part of the aquascaping and for the life of me I cannot figure out what it is. The driftwood was properly treated before it was placed in the tank (boiled and soaked for two weeks) to ensure no contaminates would be introduced. After noticing this growth, I removed the driftwood and proceeded to scrub it as best as possible and pressure washed it to remove any trace of the growth. Well after placing it back in the tank, two weeks later the growth is back and bigger than before. Has anyone experienced this problem, and if so, what can be done to get rid of it without harming my fish. I have included a photo in the gallery titled "Driftwood Growth" to give an idea of what I am fighting.


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## JIM (May 27, 2009)

*Yep , Ive seen that before, in one of my tanks and only on one certain piece of driftwood. Not sure what it was, besides hard to get rid of. Im sure its some kind of aquatic fungus or black slimey mold. I tried like you cleaning, brushing etc. Nothing worked. I even microwaved it then washed it and scrubbed off any remaining signs of it and it still came back. It was on a really nice small piece of wood, so determined not to give up, i mixed up a 50% solution of bleach and saltwater, soaked the entire piece in it for 2 days, then laid the wood in a very sunny place outdoors for 3 more days. It has been back in my tank for a few months now with no signs or regrowth. *


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

That is fungus. If you just have a little bit, you should be ok. You can get some algae eaters and other fish (platys, shrimps, snails..etc) that will eat that stuff. Unfortunately I had a major problem with it on some Mopani and other woods, and the wood smelled rotten during water changes, so I had to completely remove them.

I think this happens if you get a piece of wood that has not bee completely dried up and dead for some time. The fish did not seem to care, but my pieces were completely covered and very dense large pieces, so it was not going to end anytime soon. ;(


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## JIM (May 27, 2009)

*It never caused any real harm that i could tell, just looked yuckky. And i never found anything willing to eat it. But now its all out of my tank and off that wood so im good to go. *


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