[Monkeytitle25]

Hi guys. I’m completely new to live plants and way out of my element. I very recently set up a Fluval Spec V for my Beta. The plants that are in the tank are frogbit, a few moss balls and a whole bunch of Anubias glued to driftwood. There has been an alarming amount of biofilm on the big piece of driftwood since the second day. There is none on the other one. I have to keep the flow way down because of the beta. Also I should admit that the anubias on the problem wood came from someone else’s tank and had black beard algae. I treated it with a bleach dip and it seemed ok but now I’m not so sure. Any advice that anyone could give me would be super appreciated. Thanks so much!

 

[deeda]

It's very common to have that bio-film on new wood or cleaned wood and in new set ups so nothing to worry about. It should eventually go away or you can siphon some or all of it off during water changes.

 

[Monkeytitle25]

Thank you. I had boiled the wood for a long time so I wasn’t sure if it was the wood or the plants

 

[Acro]

Some fish and/or shrimp will eat the stuff. I don't remember if snails will. I think you have a 5 gallon tank, so you may not be able to add more animals anyway. However, in time it will stop growing, but sometimes it takes a while.

Either way, good luck!

 

[Fish Guy84]

I had a situation where it was so bad that it infested the whole tank and I had to remove it because it smelled so bad. I put the driftwood in a bucket with a powerhead and aquarium water for a month and it went away. Did water changes on the bucket too.

 

[Acro]

Yeah, I would suggest pulling the yuck out (or siphoning it up) if it gets too much. You may need something to scrape it off, or it may come of easy. But in time, it will go away.

 

[PlantedRich]

My thoughts are that it is is a normal thing that depends on something in the wood. Some have proposed it is the "sugars" but
I do knw it is not the normal fungus that we need to worry about as something on the wood we collect. I do a good long bleach soak to assure that doesn't get into my tank but some wood does get this white film and it does different things at times.
Sometimes it gets too much and I use something like an old toothbrush to swirl and collect as much as I can but at other times, I simple wait. Some fish do eat it and but goes away in either case so I no longer get too concerned if it stays down to some level that doesn't look too bad. Obviously that is as much a factor of how inspired I am to working as it does what the slime needs to live?
Easier to just wait it out but if it keeps you awake at night, work on it to get rid of it.

 

[hygropunk]

Snails will absolutely eat that biofilm - I've got ramshorn snails currently cleaning the slime off my new driftwood.

 

[poodlepuppy]

Nice tank! You have good taste for starting to work with plants! Good luck

 

[Spiritus-Ichthus]

Snails, shrimp, and catfish like otocinclus, or plecos will eat that stuff with gusto; nothing to worry about.

Biofilm is actually good for them. If it bothers you use a toothbrush and brush it off.

 

[Wantsome99]

It's caused by bacteria or fungus consuming carbohydrates in the wood. Most of the time it just goes away on it's own. It can take a month or two. You can also scrub it with a toothbrush in the tank and suck it out with a hose during a water change. Some types of wood can cause problems if they have sap in them or aren't dried out. I had eucalyptus wood kill my fish. I've had other wood rot and release toxins. I had one piece of wood that smelled like it was fermenting.

 

[Beehous]

Looks good. Totally normal for the wood to get that. I really like the gravel you went with too.