Driftwood fungus

PuddlesAqua · 03-01-2013, 04:43 PM

I have two pieces of new driftwood in my 30 gallon tank. Both have the typical white fungus looking stuff. Is there any way to get it to go away? I'm doing a fishless cycle and then will add shrimp, so I don't really have any fish that will eat it off. I have boiled each piece for a total of 2 hours (2x 1 hour sessions) with the hope of eradicating this plus making them sink.

Is there anything I can do to get rid of it?

NCSteve · 03-01-2013, 04:56 PM

It should go away on its on after a couple of weeks. I had the same thing and just left it alone after reading about it here in the forum.

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mullenium · 03-01-2013, 06:47 PM

you can take it out and rinse it off in hot water, or leave it.. either way seems to work

kingjombeejoe · 03-01-2013, 07:06 PM

I had the same problem but mine went away in a week, but i had fish and shrimp so they may have eaten it. You can always loosen it up with a stick or something and suck it out when you do water changes.

**UDGags** · 03-01-2013, 07:30 PM

It goes away after a couple weeks. I would just let it be and not worry about it.

lochaber · 03-01-2013, 08:47 PM

I'm just finishing up my fishless cycle now.

When I planted the tank, I had a couple of hitchiking snails. wasn't sure they would make it through the high ammonia/nitrite levels initially, but they did.

Initially had a couple full-grown ramshorns, some other sort of tiny ramshorns (not just juveniles, the shell shape is different then juvenile ramshorns of the same type), and a few tiny pond snails.

About 2 weeks into the cycle, I had a microfauna boom - tons of copepods, lots of snails, some daphnia, free swimming nematodes, some planaria, a few insect larvae (mosquito, and possibly bloodworm?). more recently I've found hydra, and a leech.

Anyways, once I had more then a couple snails, they seemed to keep the driftwood clear of fungus, but I only had a couple smallish patches up until then.

So, If you want, I guess you could try snails

seuadr · 03-01-2013, 10:51 PM

i've had pretty good luck scraping it off with my fish net.

PuddlesAqua · 03-02-2013, 08:34 PM

I took it out and sprayed it off with a hose, came off easy. I'll just keep doing that until it doesn't come back.

lochaber · 03-03-2013, 04:49 AM

From what I've heard, and from personal experience, that fungus doesn't seem to be terribly tenacious (or harmful), just a bit unsightly.

I can't remember where, but I've heard someone claim that the fungus only takes advantage of an early period, and after a while bacterial biofilms and stuff can outcompete the fungus.

Plus, all kindsa critters eat it, catfish, shrimp, snails, probably tons of other stuff as well.

03-01-2013, 04:43 PM	#1
PuddlesAqua Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (7/100%) Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 403	Driftwood fungus I have two pieces of new driftwood in my 30 gallon tank. Both have the typical white fungus looking stuff. Is there any way to get it to go away? I'm doing a fishless cycle and then will add shrimp, so I don't really have any fish that will eat it off. I have boiled each piece for a total of 2 hours (2x 1 hour sessions) with the hope of eradicating this plus making them sink. Is there anything I can do to get rid of it?

03-01-2013, 04:56 PM	#2
NCSteve Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (3/100%) Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 42	Driftwood fungus It should go away on its on after a couple of weeks. I had the same thing and just left it alone after reading about it here in the forum. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

03-01-2013, 07:30 PM	#5
UDGags aka Nick (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Dayton, Ohio Posts: 549	It goes away after a couple weeks. I would just let it be and not worry about it. __________________ 125 gallon

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03-01-2013, 06:47 PM	#3
mullenium Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Oregon Posts: 48	you can take it out and rinse it off in hot water, or leave it.. either way seems to work

03-01-2013, 07:06 PM	#4
kingjombeejoe Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (3/100%) Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Connecticut Posts: 150	I had the same problem but mine went away in a week, but i had fish and shrimp so they may have eaten it. You can always loosen it up with a stick or something and suck it out when you do water changes.

03-01-2013, 08:47 PM	#6
lochaber Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Oakland, CA Posts: 734	I'm just finishing up my fishless cycle now. When I planted the tank, I had a couple of hitchiking snails. wasn't sure they would make it through the high ammonia/nitrite levels initially, but they did. Initially had a couple full-grown ramshorns, some other sort of tiny ramshorns (not just juveniles, the shell shape is different then juvenile ramshorns of the same type), and a few tiny pond snails. About 2 weeks into the cycle, I had a microfauna boom - tons of copepods, lots of snails, some daphnia, free swimming nematodes, some planaria, a few insect larvae (mosquito, and possibly bloodworm?). more recently I've found hydra, and a leech. Anyways, once I had more then a couple snails, they seemed to keep the driftwood clear of fungus, but I only had a couple smallish patches up until then. So, If you want, I guess you could try snails

03-01-2013, 10:51 PM	#7
seuadr Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (3/100%) Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Eaton Rapids, Mi, USA Posts: 265	i've had pretty good luck scraping it off with my fish net.

03-02-2013, 08:34 PM	#8
PuddlesAqua Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (7/100%) Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 403	I took it out and sprayed it off with a hose, came off easy. I'll just keep doing that until it doesn't come back.

03-03-2013, 04:49 AM	#9
lochaber Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Oakland, CA Posts: 734	From what I've heard, and from personal experience, that fungus doesn't seem to be terribly tenacious (or harmful), just a bit unsightly. I can't remember where, but I've heard someone claim that the fungus only takes advantage of an early period, and after a while bacterial biofilms and stuff can outcompete the fungus. Plus, all kindsa critters eat it, catfish, shrimp, snails, probably tons of other stuff as well.