# Driftwood Fungus?



## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi,

I collected some driftwood, suspected to be eucalyptus, from the beach. It was soaked for 2 wks in tap water, 48hrs in bleach water (1:10 parts), 5 days in heavily conditioned water and sun dried between soakings. Please note the wood has small holes in it; they look like they could be from insects.

After 5 days in an aquarium, I noticed a white fluffy fungus looking material growing on the wood; specifically, it was growing over air bubbles released by the previously mentioned holes. Below are images and water parameters 5 days after adding the driftwood.

What is this white material? Is it and/or the wood cause for concern? Should any action be taken?

PH>=7.6
NH= 0ppm
NO2= 0ppm
NO3= 5ppm



















Thanks,
Matt


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## rgr4475 (Mar 19, 2008)

It looks like a fungus but after all you did to the wood it's surprising. I would take the wood out, remove the white stuff and see if it grows back.

It looks like there are bubbles under each white thing. Maybe it's just air escaping???? Very weird. Keep us posted


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## Louie13 (Jun 2, 2010)

Not to worry, I had the same thing on collected maple branches. And then again on bought manzanita for aquarium use. After some research I found out that it was normal, pleco's love to eat it. As per various manzanita dealers' websites, this is listed as normal. While you would probably have to manual remove it, the fuzz and fungus is supposed to eventually stop growing.


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Thank you *rgr4475* & *Louie13* for the input. Next water change I will try and clean it off, however as of now I will not worry too much. All fish are acting normally; actually, they seem happier with the added cover.

Thanks,
Matt


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## Anthraxx8500 (Feb 11, 2011)

the fungus is typical of most sunken woods. in my experience *** noticed that a lot of the denser malaysian hardwood wont rot like that. itll go away eventually and your plecos will eat it.sooner or later it will stop growing just pull it out and clean it off if your pleco isnt doing his job .


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