# Problems with driftwood



## angel lover (Feb 1, 2007)

I recently purchase a big piece of driftwood that was supposed to be safe for aquariums but there seems to be a white film that forms on it when I feed the fish certain foods. Does anyone here know what's going on? I've attached a few pictures to show you the problem.


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## magic_marty (Feb 3, 2007)

ewwww, that looks nasty.Did you boil it before you used it ? I know you mentioned it was bought as safe for aquarium use but you should probably always still boil it to make sure its safe, and toss in some salt to help clean out the unwanted things as you boil it..Just my opinion..But i've read that other members on here always boil there drift wood even tho it says its safe when the purchase it.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Looks like fungus or molds to me.:shake: Another possibility is algae. I'd be careful if it was fungus. The fungus spores will easily develop on fish's wounds resulting into fungus disease.


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## Gump (Oct 26, 2006)

Its no problem it happens to grape wood all the time when being first added to a tank. Plecos will consume it quickly or you can take it out and scrub it off with a tooth brush. Dont worry about your fish.


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## scottysgirl (Jan 10, 2007)

Has anyone ever tried treating wood with polyurethane, I've heard that can be done and that it works well for preventing fungus/release of tannins.


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## angel lover (Feb 1, 2007)

Thanks you guys for all the replies. I think I will just watch it a while longer and keep the "stuff" cleaned off the wood.


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## satwood (Oct 6, 2007)

So, I'd like to reprise this thread if I could. I just also added a big hunk of grapewood to my 20 gal long tank. It almost immediately fuzzed up. I prepared it by pouring boiling water over it and letting it sit all night in a tub. I did NOT boil it because I feared I would have made it split. The wood was dry when I bought it and sold for terrarium and aquarium use at the store.

The fuzz or fungus has been off and on now for about 2 weeks and does not seem yet to be going away. Does anyone know what it actually is? Should I be worried about it?

My water is about ph7.4 and my amonia, nitrate and nitire numbers are all 0 - minimal. The tank has been up and alive since last September.

Thoughts?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

satwood said:


> So, I'd like to reprise this thread if I could. I just also added a big hunk of grapewood to my 20 gal long tank. It almost immediately fuzzed up. I prepared it by pouring boiling water over it and letting it sit all night in a tub. I did NOT boil it because I feared I would have made it split. The wood was dry when I bought it and sold for terrarium and aquarium use at the store.
> 
> The fuzz or fungus has been off and on now for about 2 weeks and does not seem yet to be going away. Does anyone know what it actually is? Should I be worried about it?
> 
> ...


In short, you are not supposed to use wood or vines of fruit-bearing trees as they have the tendency to produce molds which are messy and unsightly. Switch to mopani or any other suitable wood.


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## angel lover (Feb 1, 2007)

Lupin said:


> satwood said:
> 
> 
> > So, I'd like to reprise this thread if I could. I just also added a big hunk of grapewood to my 20 gal long tank. It almost immediately fuzzed up. I prepared it by pouring boiling water over it and letting it sit all night in a tub. I did NOT boil it because I feared I would have made it split. The wood was dry when I bought it and sold for terrarium and aquarium use at the store.
> ...


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## satwood (Oct 6, 2007)

OK, thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately for me a small family of baby red-wags has taken up refuge under the log and show no signs of wanting to sell. So, I'll probably just live with it for a while, until I can catch them and move them to an isolation tank. 

As long as the stuff won't hurt my fish - that's the important thing. Appearance is secondary.


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## Oldman47 (Sep 7, 2007)

Lupin, is there something wrong with using fruit tree wood? I have been using a branch that I removed from an apple tree in my back yard. It was a branch that had died a year before and I just cut the dried branch, boiled it and put it in my endlers tank. It is good solid intact wood that is doing very well and seems to be having no problems. I know it has never been sprayed because I don't spray my apples. I always thought of it as a superior wood because it is so tight grained compared to most any other wood. It is a very hard wood, not at all like grape vine.


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## StickyGreen (Feb 8, 2008)

just BOIL it kills all the snail eggs too


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