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Is the fungus from wood killing my plants?

7K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  dukydaf 
#1 ·
Hi thanks for taking the time to help me out in advance!

I noticed a white film that was growing from my new piece of wood that I boiled in hot water for a while. I researched and I'm pretty sure it's that fungus that people say is harmless from new driftwood. However it's spreading to my plants and I think it's killing them! Is it the fungus that's killing my plants or am I doing something else wrong?

Details of my tank:
- 3 gallon tank with a Fluval Mini Power Compact Lamp PCL 13W
- It is a fairly new tank about 3 weeks old, water taken from a cycled tank
- I have one baby betta ~3 months old which I have to do a water change every day or other day because he releases growth hormones and if there's a lot it stunts his growth
- Fine sand substrate with fertilizer tablets buried inside
- I've been dosing with Excel but haven't been doing it regularly

I know one is an anubias and I've been trying to grow a cuba carpet. I have 2 other plants but I forget their names. All my cubas are dying and they're the closest to the source of the fungus. The plants near the back doesn't seem to be encompassed by the fungus and they look healthy. My anubias isn't doing so well too but I think it's because the substrate moved and covered all it's roots. I'm so frustrated with my plants! They're harder to keep than animals! But I'm also a newbie so hopefully I can get some good advice. :wink2:

Tomorrow I'm going to buy some better substrate for my tank (specifically for plants) and I'm going to salvage what I can. I might hold off on trying to grow that carpet since I'm hindered from the fact that I have to do water changes almost everyday because of my baby betta and it shifts everything a lot. I want to do CO2 but I need to do more research.

Anyways I digress. I hope to get some input on whether it is the fungus that's killing my plants or if it's me... Thanks!
 
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#3 ·
I think the fungus is a different issue from the plants dying. I find lots of the grey, slimy fungus does grow on new wood but I have never found it harmful. I also find a lot of trouble getting things going when I try a new hobby or move into something new. Hard thing to accept but I have learned to accept that I will have trouble on new things?
I think the prevailing word on the fungus will be that there are very special conditions needed for the fungus to grow. One is that it is suddenly fully wet and that there is some source of the "food" it needs. Maybe a form of "sugar", etc, in the wood. Boiling doesn't change the food content. So that often means the fungus will grow where conditions are right and food is there but at some point the food runs out and it goes away. For many, it is ugly so they mechanically remove as much as they can, let fish eat it or just ignore it.
The plants dying? I would look for other things. Small carpet plants are not my thing as I go with what works best and I find they are more difficult. Perhaps not enough light? Need CO2? But the point may be that the fungus does creep over onto the plants but that may be more a factor of finding the same dead/dying "food" as on the wood?
No facts, just theory but I would look at the two as separate problems. I would not fight the fungus but I would look at why /what is going wrong with the plants.
Sorry, I'm guessing it is part of the steep learning curve and we just have to hang in and study the issue. For me, that involved moving to easier plants. I was not set on what I wanted so when one did not work, I ripped it out and tried another.
I put my plants and fish on a strict routine. Either you work or you are out of here! I don't have time for fickle!
 
#4 ·
Planted Rich is right. This is a classic causation problem. Which came firs the fungus or the damaged plants?

Most fungi are not able to penetrate / survive healthy plant cell ( except for commensalism). So the fungus spread from the wood to whatever dead thing it can find... Fish food for example.

As the food source diminishes and bacterial population adapt to underwater conditions the fungus will go away without any intervention.

The question that remains is why are the plants dying?

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#5 ·
Hmm, thanks for the input guys. I definitely will grow some easier plants for now and I think I'm going to remove the piece of wood. It's a cholla wood so maybe I'll utilize it somewhere else someday. For now, I don't want to deal with the fungus.

I'm just really confused why my anubias is dying. The leaves seem to be "burnt" and growing yellow but I only have the light on for 6 hours a day. I took that plant from my sister's tank and she had it for a while. I'm just thinking maybe the light distance to the plant is too strong for the plant... Anyways I'm restarting my plant tank so wish me luck!
 
#8 ·
I bought a "specialized fertilizer"before and I didn't read it fully and realized it has ammoniUM in it which I suppose is great for my plants but not so great for my fish... It made my ammonia readings really high which scared me but as I read ammoniUM isn't as harmful as ammonia.

But yes I do have other fertilizers which I will be dosing when I restart it again today!

Has anyone had personal experience with Seachem Flourish Advance?? It says it's suppose to encourage root/plant growth. I bought a small bottle of it hoping that maybe it'll be useful.
 
#9 ·
Ammonium NH4+ is a form of ammonia NH3, but indeed is not as toxic as NH3. When the pH is acidic <7 you get more ammonium, when it get more basic you get ammonia.

In a cycled aquarium ammonia /um will be rapidly converted to nitrites and nitrates. This, it is unlikely that dosing a fertilizer designed for aquariums per instructions will increase your NH3 to dangerous levels for fish. However it is far safer to add No3.
Seachem advanced provides no Nitrogen. It mainly adds K, a little P and some Ca and Mg.it might be enough for low tech low growth but I don't think good enough for HC cuba


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