# Cotton ball, milky white substance growing on rock.



## BigOtto (Dec 4, 2013)

I come home today and take a seat to stare into my cycling tank to relax. I notice some milky white cotton ballish growth on a few of the rocks over what might have been a few lichen spots I missed in crevices of the rock when I scrubbed them. Being newer to larger tanks I just removed them and replaced them with rocks I had cleaned and hadn't used. I'm just wondering what the stuff was, or if I could have left it in the tank and not worried about it? I'm thinking some kind of mold on the lichen.


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

It was most likely just a harmless fungus/mold that would have gone away in a few days. I've actually had what you descirbed appear on some newly added driftwood and my BN pleco seemed to love eating it!

I wouldn't hesitate to add the rocks back into the tank...


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## BigOtto (Dec 4, 2013)

I'm going to pick up a good wire brush today and scrub those two rocks down. I thought of using some of my cleaning kit for my firearms but those are a bit more expensive. They would get into all the little cracks.


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## testtube (Jan 23, 2014)

*** also have had similar growth on the driftwood in my tank when I first set it up. As the moderator indicated pleco's will make short work of it.


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## fisher32585 (Mar 19, 2014)

i also have a cycling tank with small white things growing on rocks, anyone else have any info on this? saw it one one rock at 1st, took it out and boiled it. few days later see it on some others


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## Thalas_shaya (Mar 10, 2014)

According to the gurus over at WetWebMedia, CjCichlid is right on: it's probably fungal (maybe bacterial), it found just enough organic material in your decoration to grow briefly. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/FWAlgID.htm <-- near the bottom of the page


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I've seen small patches of what you guys are describing on submerged wood in my tank. It went away, without a Pleco. Perhaps it was nibbled on by the cichlids or livebearers. Not sure. This was 'new' woodwork, and has not been seen since.


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